A Life that Wasn't Hers
by bookluvr4life
Summary: Ginny puts her life on hold after Hogwarts to take care of Ron and Hermione's small daughter while the girl's parents work to take care of the family they weren't quite ready for.  Rating upped for a reason, folks! Now a 2-shot
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, the ending isn't perfect and there are things I'd like to tie up better and make clearer at some point but I had to get this out there and out of the forefront of my mind so I can hopefully continue on with my chapter fic… which I am working on, it's just slow going and I've been playing phone tag with someone from HR regarding a prospective job for the last week.

I have all sorts of reasons why I haven't written anything in nearly a year, but this is breaking that streak and hopefully in the time it takes to download the new version of iTunes and sync my new iPod I will have half a chapter down and will be able to update more soon. =)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a computer that fights every time I try to use the letter "V" and an ipod that was my Thanksgiving present to myself.

For the second time that night, the twenty-year old redhead rocked her niece to sleep in the chair that had been in her family for generations and she wondered at the way her life was turning out. It wasn't that she didn't love the two-year-old, for the little girl in her arms was the most precious thing in Ginny's world, but she had never thought that she would be feeding her motherly instincts so young in life. Young women her age were supposed to go out dancing and drinking and getting laid by random men, Ginny knew this from her many girlfriends (that she was not really sorry to admit she was drifting away from the more time passed). There was a problem in that scenario for Ginny- well, several actually, not the least of which being her overly protective older brothers. Ginny could take care of them easily enough if she wanted to, though. The simple fact of the matter was that she simply wasn't interested in that sort of life.  
Ever since her niece had made a surprise appearance in the world a few years ago, Ginny found herself loving the little girl more than she thought any one person had the capacity to love. Her priorities shifted to what would be best for Kayla rather than herself, even if that included putting her own life off for a bit while the girl's parents worked their asses off to support the child they were entirely unprepared for and needed her to take care of the little girl.  
Kay was, quite simply, her aunt's little girl. Not only did she look remarkably like her aunt (more than one person commented on the fact that she looked more like Ginny than her own parents, which led to some interesting encounters when strangers saw the two together), but she shared the same firecracker personality and angelic smile Ginny herself had used on more than one occasion when she landed herself in trouble. The two shared a bond stronger even than that of Hermione and her daughter, though Ginny would never say it aloud to her sister-in-law because she knew it would break her heart (not that Hermione was unaware of the fact- she was a brilliant woman). Though the words were never spoken, the entire family (and beyond) knew of Kayla's affinity for her aunt. It was not uncommon for the little girl to bury herself into Ginny's shoulder when the boisterous lot got together, or for Ginny to be the one to change the girl's nappy and she certainly could get her to sleep easier than anyone else could. The only problem Ginny saw with the entire situation was that her little princess wasn't actually hers.  
As the girl's breathing regulated and she heard soft snores coming from the little body, Ginny carefully stood up and walked over to the little girl's bed, and being careful not to trip over the many stuffed animals surrounding it, set her down and pulled the covers up just an inch or two shy of her neck. She kissed the little girl's forehead, and as she always did, whispered "Good night Princess. I love you always and forever and I will always be here whenever you need me." When she turned around to begin walking to the door, she grabbed her chest and let out a short gasp.  
"Harry, you scared me." She said quietly upon reaching the hall and shutting the bedroom door most of the way.  
"Sorry," he replied sheepishly, "I just wanted to see your magic touch in action. Did you know that girl will stay awake playing with me until midnight when I watch her?"  
"I'd heard something along those lines, yes." Ginny replied with a smile as she began heading back to the living room.  
"So why does she sleep for you? What do you do differently?" Harry voiced the question the entire family had been asking themselves for some time now. Ginny paused briefly to consider how to answer him as she continued down the stairs.  
"Harry, she spends almost all of her waking hours with me, and quite a few of her sleeping ones as well. She is the most precious thing in my world and she knows it. It feels safe and natural for her to fall asleep on my chest." She said as they were just outside the living room.  
"Hmm…" Harry said, pondering what she just said, "I can see your point. I wouldn't have any objections to falling asleep on your chest either." He said, waggling his eyebrows at her in a joking manner.  
"Harry!" several voices exclaimed at his announcement. The man in question turned beet red as he turned to Ginny.  
"Did I really say that that loudly?" He asked her in a whisper.  
"Apparently." She whispered back. "Be careful where you choose to sit." She advised, looking around the room at the various faces her family members were wearing. Harry laughed, and then quickly sobered as he too looked at all the male Weasleys in the room.  
"Shit, Gin, when did you get so many brothers?"  
She just laughed at him as she plopped down on the sofa next to Bill, who glared at Harry for suggesting, even in a joking manner, something inappropriate about his baby sister. As he scanned the room, Harry took Ginny's words of advice even more seriously. The twins were in a corner, presumably plotting a joke and Harry would gladly have joined them if he didn't notice a covert glance or two in his direction from that corner. Ron was playing chess with Fred's girlfriend, Angelina Johnson, though he seemed more than willing to take a break to glare at his best friend. There were brothers all around the room, it seemed, and the safest place for the time being seemed to be right next to Ginny herself. She could protect him from them all. He mentally laughed at himself as he made his way over to the sofa- Here he was, savior of the entire damn Wizarding world and he needed protection from a group of people he considered family by a girl- woman- a year younger than himself.  
Harry stretched an arm out on the back of the old sofa and surreptitiously leaned forward and whispered "diffuse please" in her ear before seemingly relaxing back like nothing was out of the ordinary. He watched through anxious half-lidded eyes to see what she would do. Much to his surprise, she leaned back, resting her head at the juncture between his shoulder and neck as she continued her conversation with Bill, which was, unsurprisingly, about Harry himself- or rather, her relationship with him.  
"Yeah, we've been shagging for a few years. What's it been love, three or four years now?" she asked moving her head to look at Harry, her eyes telling him to play along. He didn't trust that this would turn out at all in his favor, but did what she asked anyway.

"Uh, three I think. Just after your seventeenth birthday, remember?"

"Right." She said agreeing with him before turning back to her brother, well aware that all eyes and ears in the room were focused on her and the nonchalant way she was talking about sleeping with Harry Potter. "It was sweet, really, the way he insisted on waiting until after I was a legal adult. Said he didn't feel right about having relations with a minor, even if I am only a few months younger than he is. He took me to France and we ate at some ridiculously expensive restaurant that had a gorgeous view of the Eiffel Tower and when I mentioned I'd like to see the view from there, he pointed out how convenient that was, since he had made arrangements with one of the workers to get us up there alone after dinner. It was wonderful." She said, sighing blissfully in supposed remembrance.

"Uh, Gin, isn't there something else about that night you'd like to mention?" Harry asked, as he received death glares from her brothers for taking her innocence and wistful looks from their wives and girlfriends, wishing their first times had been that romantic.

"You mean the part where you proposed and we ran off to get married and have been keeping it under wraps since then?" She asked innocently.

"No, no the other part." He said in an unnaturally high voice, wondering if she were trying to get him murdered.

"Oh! You mean the part where that was the plot of one of mum's romance novels I nicked and we aren't actually sleeping together, let alone married?"

"Yeah," he said, breathing a heavy sigh of relief, "that would be the part I was referring to."

"Why," a new voice suddenly asked, "didn't you just say that in the first place instead of making us all think we had to beat Harry to a bloody pulp?"

"Well, for one, Ronald, that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. For another, I was trying and apparently failing to tell you that if I want to bloody shag someone, that's what I'm going to do and you don't have any say about it. I know for a fact that each and every one of you were shagging well before you were twenty." When Ron opened his mouth to protest, Ginny opened hers again, "No, you don't get to say anything to me about sex because, in case you don't remember, you have a two-year-old sleeping upstairs and you're only a year older than I am." Ginny, evidently fed up with the entire discussion and the absurd notion her brothers had that she needed their protection, got up from her (extremely comfortable, if she did say so herself) position at Harry's side and stalked into the kitchen, making sure the swinging door shut behind her and wasn't propped open as her mother usually left it, to get a drink and hopefully let the conversations get somewhere near normal again.

"Sorry, Ginny," a voice startled her out of her thoughts, "I wouldn't have said anything if I knew everyone would hear and make a big deal of it."

"It's not your fault Harry. We've been joking with each other since we were kids still in Hogwarts. Besides, this was a long time coming. They have to learn that I'm not a little girl anymore. Hell, I watch Kay like she bloody well is my own little girl. I know the consequences of unprotected sex and I'm not nearly stupid enough to shag someone I don't care for and don't know will be there in case something does happen, Merlin forbid." Despite her words, Ginny wasn't actually sure she wouldn't welcome having her own child… at least, not if the right man realized he was actually the right man for her and didn't keep shying away when the conversation started getting serious.

"Right, that's good. Well, I better get back before they start thinking I'm trying anything with you and murder me despite your brilliant speech just a minute ago."

"Ok," she said, smiling weakly at him and his discomfort with her brothers- really, they were pussy cats, "thanks for checking up on me."

"What are friends for?" he asked, flashing a grin at her as he stepped back into the once again active room.

Right. Friends. All they ever would be, considering he completely lost his balls when any of her brothers were around them and _she_ certainly wasn't man enough to bring up the fact that she'd known she was going to end up with him since she was fifteen years old and had loved him longer than that. Ginny sighed, took another swig from her glass of water, and walked back into the living room before announcing she was retiring for the night.

"Gin, look, I'm sorry-" one of her brothers started before she stopped him.

"Not tonight. I can't deal with you lot right now. Just, please, realize that I am a grown woman and can take care of myself. You can come groveling for my forgiveness tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to take a nice long bubble bath and go to bed." Ginny turned and took a few steps out of the room before retracing her steps to the quiet room. "Harry, you coming?" she asked saucily.

"No thanks love, another time perhaps." he replied, winking at her, glad they were back to normal at least.

"Shame. Your loss then," she replied, sauntering back out of the room, "but you know where to find me if you change your mind." Ginny called back to him, leaving her brothers in shock.

_I'm sure it is my loss,_ Harry thought to himself, _but I'd rather like to keep my bits where they are, thanks. Speaking of my bits…_

"Harry, what exactly, is your relationship with Ginny?" Bill asked him, looming dangerously close.

"We're friends. Good friends, yes, but friends without any sort of fringe benefits." He said, making sure it was clear he was not having a physical relationship with Ginny.

"So, you would say, under pain of death that you and our baby sister are just friends?" Bill asked.

"Absolutely not." At the looks he was receiving, Harry hurried to clarify. "For one thing, Ginny said she doesn't want you looking on her as your baby sister, but as an adult. For another, I don't think there's anything 'just' about having a friend like Ginny- someone who's had my back since we were teenagers and has always supported me in everything, even to the front lines of battle, facing death together. Now, if you're done belittling your sister by continuing to treat her as a child that needs protecting, which she quite obviously does not, I'm going to go. It seems my evening isn't turning out nearly as pleasant as I had hoped. Good night boys, ladies. Hermione, tell Ginny I'll stop by tomorrow."

"Good night Harry." Hermione called out to the man stalking out the door as she wondered how the entire situation escalated so quickly that two of her best friends felt the need to leave the party early.

Ginny woke up the next morning and wondered immediately why she was awake. The sun had hardly even begun rising outside her window yet. At the soft patter of little feet nearing her bed, she immediately knew what had woken her.

"Hello princess, how are you this morning?" she asked as she lifted the tiny pajama clad girl along with the pink fuzzy blanket that was clutched to the girl's chest up into the twin sized bed she currently occupied. Once the girl had gotten settled (sprawled entirely over her aunt and making it slightly difficult for the woman to breathe), the two drifted back to sleep.

A few hours later, Ginny again wondered what had woken her up, as the toddler was still sleeping snugly against her side. As she blearily opened her eyes, she held in the shriek that would be sure to wake her slumbering niece.

"Harry!" she whispered harshly, though not harsh enough to wake Kayla, "What are you doing in my bedroom at-"she glanced at her bedside clock, "eight in the morning?"

"Come downstairs with me," he whispered back, pleading with his eyes.

"Fine," she sighed, "but there had better be coffee. And know that if it were up to me, I'd be in bed for the next few hours, but your damn puppy eyes won't let me."

"Ginny, love," he said quietly, helping to reposition Kay so she wouldn't wake up at Ginny's absence, "if it were up to me and you truly couldn't resist my eyes, I can assure you that you _would_ be in bed for the next several hours, and you damn sure wouldn't be sleeping."

"Big words, little action, Potter," she said as she stood, smiling down at the child on her bed. "Let's go." She grabbed a hair tie from on top of her dresser and walked out the door, leaving it open to listen for her niece.

The two walked downstairs and sat at Molly's kitchen table in silence. Ginny looked expectantly at Harry and he quickly got up and poured her demanded cup of coffee, adding a bit of milk before handing it to her. Ginny sipped her coffee, wondering what Harry was up to.

Harry, meanwhile had a million thoughts buzzing around his head, though they all went along the same lines. _She sure is beautiful when she's sleeping. She's beautiful awake, too. She's great with kids. I bet she'd be good at making them. I wonder what she'd do if she knew I was thinking about her like this. Would she be angry? Happy? Would she reject me?_

"Harry?" she asked, evidently tired of waiting on the man who woke her up to decide what he wanted to say.

"You're beautiful." He said, his thoughts spilling out of his mouth as he was jarred from them. "Um, what I mean is, well, what I said, actually." He stuttered, without glancing at Ginny, who had the nerve to be laughing at him.

"I never believed the rumors, but they must have had some merit. You've lost your mind, Potter," Ginny said, wondering what had gotten into her friend, "My hair's a frizzy, knotted mess, there's sleep in my eyes and I'm wearing ratty old pajamas I've had for years."

Harry could not understand how his friend saw herself this way. She was the essence of beauty that morning as he looked upon her. Sure, her hair wasn't as controlled as she usually had it, but it's frizzy, knotted mess as she said was a shining example that she was comfortable with herself around him without putting on the airs she did for other people. Her sleep-ridden eyes showed that she had dreams and life, even when dead to the world. Her old pajamas were the essence of the warmth and comfort of growing up in a home where love is treasured above clothing and possessions. Simply put, Ginny radiated beauty to Harry.

"Come on Gin, seriously-"

"I am serious. I look a mess."

"You know you look amazing no matter what, stop trying to deny it. Besides, it's not just how you look. When I saw you last night, you were telling off your six older brothers about how you were a grown woman and could take care of yourself- and you know nothing's sexier than a woman with gumption- and I got to see you wake up this morning with one of the most beautiful children in the world in your arms. You don't know what it's like to have grown up without someone you could feel safe climbing in bed with when you woke up in the middle of the night. That the little girl I adore more than anyone else can do that with you, one of my oldest and dearest friends- it's a beautiful sight, Gin."

To say Ginny was speechless by the end of his speech would be an understatement. She looked at Harry, wondering if he really saw all that in her as she numbly sipped her coffee cup.

For his part, Harry was wondering what, in the name of Merlin's underpants, had caused him to blurt those thoughts out to her.

"So… did you wake me up for that or is there something else you wanted to talk about?" Ginny asked, once the silence got uncomfortable.

"Well, both really." Harry said vaguely before continuing on. "I had a little chat with Bill last night after you went upstairs."  
"Oh sweet Merlin." Ginny muttered. Harry ignored her.

"It really got me thinking about what a great friend you are and how much shit I've put you through just by being close to me- not to mention all the times I've come to you, waking you up wanting to talk." Ginny quirked an eyebrow as that example of 'shit he'd put her through' was what he was doing at the moment. "Yeah, yeah," he said, correctly interpreting her facial expression, "but the point I was trying to get to is why you've done all that. I'm not exactly the model friend someone would want to deal with that for in order to get a great friend back. I'm just… me."

"Are you suggesting you think I've gone through the past decade the way I have because I was only interested in the famous Harry Potter and not, as you say, just you?"

"No, no, not at all. I just… I want to know why you would."

"Well Harry," Ginny said slowly, gathering her out-of-control thoughts to her, "We're friends and I love you. The day you saved my life, you became much more personal than 'the great Harry Potter' and in the time since then, we've shared enough difficult experiences that I couldn't imagine not having you in my life now. Even if you do wake me up in the middle of the night or early in the morning to talk."

"But why get to that place? What made you decide to stay?"

"Besides the fact that my family reached out and decided you belong with us and I was stuck with you?" she asked, hoping to lighten the mood. It didn't work and she quickly continued on. "Well, I could see that you needed me, and I needed you. I was still a child, as you were, but we had both faced a darkness that few others our age could fathom. I needed you to help me overcome the darkness, and I could see that you needed me to remind you to be young- so many burdens had already been placed on you at that time. You just needed someone to love you and I knew somehow that I was that person, even if you wouldn't recognize me as such right away."

"You are too amazing, Ginny." Harry said, grasping her hand across the table. The two sat like that for some moments before Ginny turned the cards on him.

"Why did you decide to continue putting up with me, even after all was said and done?"

"Besides the fact that your family reached out and decided I belong and I was stuck with you?" he asked, echoing her words from a few minutes earlier, suddenly finding the humor in them. "You were right. I needed you and you needed me. We're good together. Besides, it's like you said earlier. You're my friend and I love you." Ginny heart constricted at his kind words, knowing he meant them, but not in the same way she did, which made all the difference. Despite her heart twisting about, Ginny smiled brightly at him and his declaration of true friendship. She squeezed his hand tightly before letting go and holding her coffee mug with both hands.

"What's on your mind?" Harry asked, suddenly aware that his friend, despite answering the questions that had burning at the forefront of his mind, wasn't nearly as _Ginny_ as she should have been.

"What makes you think there's something on my mind?" Ginny asked evasively.

"Your eyes." He said, really looking at her for the first time in a while. He didn't say anything else. He knew she would tell him what it was when she got her thoughts gathered coherently. Several minutes later, he was shocked by the honesty of the question she asked.

"Have you ever thought about the two of us in a romantic sense?" She gazed at him, searching his face for an answer while waiting on the words to come.

"Do you want the one-hundred percent honest answer or what I've tried to convince myself the answer is?" he asked, knowing what her response would be before he even asked.

"One hundred percent honest." She said, fearing yet looking forward to the answer to the question that had been plaguing her for years.

"Nearly every day of my life since I realized you were more than just my best friend's little sister."

"Why didn't you ever do or say anything?" she asked, hope fueled while thinking of all the wasted time they had spent.

"Why do you think I started joking with you about a physical relationship? That was more a gauge of your attitude towards me than it was about humor. Why did I never take things further than that? I thought about it and it was never worth the risk of something tearing us apart." Harry paused before a thought occurred to him. "What about you? Did you ever…" he trailed off, knowing she knew what he was saying anyway.

"I- yeah, of course I did. I'm a girl. Every girl at least thinks about her good male friends that way once in her life, even if she does discard the notion. I never did. Discard it, that is. Really, it's always been you." Both sat in silence, digesting what had been said.

"What now?" Neither Harry nor Ginny were actually certain who spoke the words that were on both their minds, but Harry answered nonetheless.

"I'm still not sure if what we could have is worth what could happen if it doesn't work out."

"I thought you were a Gryffindor. Aren't you supposed to be brave?"

"Isn't it brave to let go of what I've dreamt of to keep sacred something that is better than almost anything else I could imagine?"

"Isn't it brave to follow your heart when you know it could bring you untold happiness?"

"Ginny…" he sighed.

"Harry."

"I just don't know."

"Well, know this: If we move on today, deciding to remain friends and that nothing else will come of our relationship, I will put this conversation, and the dogged belief I've held that you are the only one for me out of my mind and I will move on. I promise you that. I'm not trying to give you an ultimatum. I just want you to know what you risk losing in the future, should you decide that today."

"You really are beautiful, you know." Harry said reveling in the utter sincerity and emotion she put forth, that she had for their entire friendship. She was always completely herself and it was always precious, even if he didn't fully appreciate it until that moment.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm in love with you and I can't pass the opportunity to be with you up just because I'm afraid of something that might never happen."

"Good." She said, a giant smile making its way across her face.

"That's all you can say? Good?" Harry asked joking.

"Yeah, well, I can think of something else I'd rather be doing with my mouth instead, so 'good' is the best I can come up with at the moment."

Before she was entirely sure of what was happening, Harry made his way around the table and was lifting her up to her feet. "I sincerely hope what you're thinking and what I'm thinking is the same thing." He said, drawing her close and letting his lips hover ever so slightly above hers. Ginny quickly closed the gap between their mouths and kissed him until she was grinning again and pulled away slightly.

"Was that what you had in mind?" she asked, reveling in the sheer rightness she felt in that moment of being held in his arms, knowing that he was hers and she was his.

"Something along those lines, yes." He said, dotting gentle kisses all over her face and neck before finding a particularly sensitive spot and focusing his attentions there. Ginny reveled in the feeling of Harry's lips on her neck and the knowledge that he felt about her the way she felt for him.

"You really are beautiful, you know." He said against her skin, causing her to giggle at the tickle of his breath.

"So you've said." She replied, pulling his mouth back up to hers. So wrapped up in the kiss was she that she almost didn't notice when something was different. She sighed and pulled back away. "Kayla's up."

"I didn't hear anything."

"She's looking around my room for me. She'll be downstairs in a minute and I'd rather she gets dressed first or there'll be no getting her back upstairs when she sees her Uncle Harry." Ginny said, reluctantly pulling away.

"I still don't hear anything." Harry said, keeping her rooted at his side.

"That is because you don't listen for her all the time. I know what to listen for." Ginny said, loving the contact with Harry, but knowing that with each passing moment her niece was getting closer to coming downstairs. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She said, kissing him quickly then breaking away to get Kay ready for the day. As she reached the stairs, she saw that she was right and the girl was slowly making her way down the staircase.

"Come on baby, turn around. We have to get dressed and brush our hair." At her command, the girl turned and headed back up the stairs she had been working to get down.

Ginny changed her niece's nappy then let the girl play in her dresser drawers while she decided what she was going to wear for the day- something nice but not dressy she thought, deciding upon a pair of fitted jeans and a light green pullover. Kay, upon seeing her aunt's outfit of the day, pulled out a green t-shirt and a pair of jeans to wear.

"Excellent choice love," Ginny said, pulling the shirt over the girl's head. After making sure her niece was dressed, including socks and a pair of play shoes, Ginny looked at her reflection. She made a face when it told her she should put a bit more effort into her appearance, and then proceeded to do exactly that. She took Kayla into the bathroom and set the girl in front of her on the counter. She sprayed the girl's hair with a detangling spray Hermione bought then handed her a small comb to play with while she set about working on her own hair. Unable to decide on a hairstyle she felt would look absolutely perfect, Ginny pulled her hair back into a high ponytail and decided that if Harry couldn't handle her hair as it usually was, he wasn't cut out to be her boyfriend anyway. Boyfriend. Ginny giggled at the thought, then giggled some more at the thought of a boy making her giggle.

When she was satisfied that there were no stray bumps in her hair, Ginny took the comb from her niece and began sorting through the curly locks that the girl had unfortunately inherited from her mother. Once all the knots were out of the girl's hair (which took a lot of patience and quite a bit of gentle coaxing), she separated it into two sections on the top of her head and gave the girl pigtails. Once both girls were ready, Ginny pulled her niece from the counter then told the girl that there was a surprise waiting for her downstairs. The toddler took off toward the stairs and Ginny followed close behind, wanting to see both her niece's reaction to her 'Uncle Harry' and Harry's reaction to herself.

At hearing the footsteps on the stairs, Harry turned to see the two most important females in his life coming down them and he walked towards them, lifting up Kayla when she ran at him and giving her a smacking kiss on the cheek. Ginny paused on the steps to observe Harry with her niece and decided she quite liked the picture the two of them made and mentally inserted herself in it. Deciding she liked that picture even more, Ginny quickly walked over to where Kay was babbling at Harry from her perch on his waist and wrapped her own arms around both of them, kissing Harry soundly on the mouth before pulling away slightly.

"I love that I can do that." She said softly, burrowing into his chest.

"Mmm, me too, but there's something you should know." He replied just as softly.

"What's that?" she asked, looking up at him in a way that made his heart nearly burst with joy.

"Your brother Bill popped in just a few minutes ago and has been sitting at the kitchen table waiting for you to come down. I'd wager a guess that he's looking at me like I should be running right now." At Harry's first sentence, Ginny blushed scarlet, and when he finished she groaned, attempting to bury herself in him even further.

"But it was so nice with just us." She said before turning so she could see her brother. "Good morning Bill. How are you today?"

"I'd be better if I didn't have the feeling my little sister and her boyfriend had been lying to me last night and guilted me into coming over to apologize for jumping to conclusions that are actually correct." He said gruffly. Despite not wanting to face Bill at the moment, neither Harry nor Ginny could help the smiles that rose to their faces at the word 'boyfriend.'

"Come on Bill," Ginny said in a tone that told him she clearly wasn't happy with him- again- "let's go talk in the living room. It's more comfortable." Bill looked like he wanted to argue, but Ginny was already leading Harry into the living room, with Kayla still firmly attached to his hip.

"We didn't lie to you, Bill." Ginny started, knowing the best way to get it over with was to start talking. Sensing the tension in the room as her "Unca Bull" sat stiffly in the armchair near the couch her "Aunt Gee" and "Unca Arry" were perched on, having moved her to Harry's lap rather than his hip, Kayla scooted so she was lying across her aunt, knowing nothing bad would happen with the red-haired woman's protection.

"We haven't slept together- not that it would be any of your business if we had- and this-" she said, gesturing between herself and Harry, "has only recently been fleshed out."

"How 'fleshed out' has it become?" Bill asked, narrowing his eyes at Harry.

"That's none of your damn business." Harry answered, narrowing his eyes back at him. Ginny picked up what she was saying the night before: "Harry and I are both adults and can make our own decisions in regard to our relationship. If you don't want to accept that fact, that's fine, but I don't have to listen to it."

"What's gotten into you, Ginny? You used to listen when I had advice for you, not tell me you wouldn't speak to me if it wasn't what you wanted." He said, listening between the lines to what Ginny was saying.

"You used to offer advice and not tell me how to run my life- or how not to run it. Advice is fine for someone still figuring out who they are and what they want from life and how to get it. What's not fine is telling a fully grown witch that she can't be with the person she's in love with because you're more comfortable seeing her as a child. In case you haven't noticed, Bill, I'm not a child anymore. I look after a child because her parents made a decision neither one was really ready for. I know what I'm doing when I decide something in regard to my life." As if she somehow knew she was being talked about, Kayla looked up at her aunt and squished the woman's cheeks together and kissed the puckered lips.

"Oh, thank you, Princess," Ginny said, smiling down at the precious little girl.

"Hungee!" Kayla proclaimed, earning a laugh or chuckle from all in the room.

"Ok, let's go get you something to eat." She said, standing up. Directing her attention back at her brother, she said, "We'll finish this in a few minutes." Both men had a clear view into the kitchen and watched Ginny settle her niece into the high chair in the corner before setting about getting breakfast ready. She poured a bowl of cereal and set that with a small spoon in front of her niece. She poured her own bowl and ate it while Kayla played around with what she was given. When Ginny was finished with her cereal, she drank the last of the milk from the bowl and put her bowl in the sink. She then grabbed a banana from the bowl on the table that her mother always kept stocked with fresh fruit, just in case someone needed a quick snack as they were passing through. She peeled it, then broke it in two, eating one half and setting the other in front of her niece just as the little girl was tipping the bowl up to drink the last remaining milk, which Ginny swore up and down to Hermione that she didn't know where the girl learned it from.

Both Harry and Bill were struck with the routine of the morning, and the comfort the two girls seemed to get from each others' presence. Bill's heart constricted as he clearly saw his baby sister acting as an adult and realized that his niece really did see her as a mother figure and that Ginny filled that role wonderfully. Harry, coming to the same realization, was filled with warmth at the vision of many more mornings such as this one and the thought that _maybe_ it would be their own children in that picture with her and he would finally have a real, loving family of his own.

"Are you done eating, Princess?" Ginny asked her niece. As the girl raised her arms for her aunt to pick her up, Ginny laughed. "You know we have to clean up first, silly girl."

At these words, Harry and Bill both got panicked looks on their faces, having had to wash the girl up after a meal before and endure her screaming and writhing around until the job was finished. Instead of the screams that they were expecting, however, their ears were met with shrieks of laughter. Harry cautiously opened his eyes to see how in the world Ginny was evoking such a response at washing up. He was met with a picture of Ginny holding a washcloth in one hand and shaking Kayla's hand vigorously with it until her tiny hand slipped out of Ginny's larger one. Ginny was, of course, shaking her body vigorously and making the requisite funny noises. This continued with both hands and as she washed the girl's face, though there really wasn't anything on it, until Kayla grabbed the cloth to clean up by herself. Ginny let go and watched as the girl smeared the remains of her breakfast all around the tray of her high chair.

"Good job helping!" Ginny exclaimed and gently took the washcloth away from her niece, setting it down on the tray. "Ok, ready to get down?" This time, when Kayla lifted her arms, Ginny obliged by picking her up and setting her on the floor, quickly wiping the mess on the tray while the little girl got adjusted to being on her feet again.

Ginny walked back into the living room where her brother and Harry were sitting, looking at her as though they were seeing her through fresh eyes. As she sat down and Kayla climbed into her lap, Bill quietly spoke up.

"You're not a little kid anymore, Gin."

"I know that, Bill." She said, trying to figure out why he was telling her what she had been trying to get through his head just minutes before.

"You can take care of yourself and a baby and you do it well. You- you don't need me to help you anymore."

"No, Bill, I don't." Ginny said gently, beginning to understand where he was coming from, "but you will always be my big brother and I'll love you for it. And it's not like I'll never need your help with anything, but I can make my own decisions regarding my relationships and I need you to let me."

"I think I can do that." He agreed, and then turned to Harry, "but I better not hear of you doing anything to hurt my little sister."

"I won't." Harry promised, looking from Bill to Ginny and smiling softly down at her.

When he saw the look Harry was giving his sister, part of Bill wanted to tear the two apart and keep the girl he helped raise from ever seeing the man who looked at her so seriously again. Lust was one thing- he could understand twenty-one-year-olds lusting after each other, but the level of commitment and devotion in Harry's eyes was something Bill was completely unprepared to see directed at the girl whose nappies he had changed and who he had taught to read and ride a broom.

"I can take Kay for a few hours, if you want me to." He said, allowing the mental picture of his sister to grow up a little bit and be in a real relationship with someone who wanted only the best for her.

"Thanks Bill." Ginny beamed at him, standing up, "I'll just go get a bag ready for you to take with you." As she hurried upstairs, Ginny reflected on what her brother thought he saw to change his mind about her. Deciding the reason wasn't important, just that he came to the realization she was an adult, Ginny grabbed a bag from her niece's closet and filled it with plenty of diapers, wipes, and two changes of clothes, just in case. She raced back downstairs and grabbed a spill-proof cup and filled it with juice before casting a perpetual cooling charm on it.

"Here you go. You've got everything you need there for whatever you two are going to do, but if there's something else you need, don't hesitate to stop in and get it or ask me for it... what have you three been doing? I've only been out of the room a few minutes." Ginny asked, getting a good look at the scene before her. Bill and Harry were on their hands and knees with blankets on their backs and stuffed animals riding on top. Kayla seemed to be pulling them around with some sort of string. There were animals spread across the floor that had seemingly fallen off of the boys' backs.

"Hosey!" Kayla cried happily in answer to her aunt's question.

"Are you having fun playing horsey with your uncles?" Ginny asked, silently summoning a camera from the cabinet and taking several pictures of the boys as horses being led around by a two-year-old. "Come on, kids," she said a few minutes later, "It's time to clean up."

"No! Don' wanna!" came the cries from the little girl as she continued pulling the strings connected to her 'horses'. The horses, however, reared up and looked at Ginny to see what she would do at the blatant disobedience.

"Kayla, it is time to clean up your animals. Your Uncle Bill was going to take you away from the house to play today, but he's not going to do that if you have to sit in time-out for not listening."

After thinking about her options, Kayla slowly began picking up the animals scattered around the floor while Bill and Harry put the blankets that were on their backs back onto the backs of the furniture.

"How did you do that?" Bill asked her in awe.

"That? It's easy. I just gave her two options: she could clean up and play with you or she could refuse to clean up and sit in time out and not play with you. I just had to make cleaning up the more appealing option." She answered, keeping an eye on the child's efforts.

"You make it sound so easy." He laughed.

"It is easy. Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes she just wants to be a stinker and make life miserable, but she's usually pretty easy to take care of. What is that?" she asked, peeling the string off Harry before her eyes got wide.

"Kayla Danielle Weasley! You do not play with grandmum's knitting supplies. And you two," she said, turning to the shame-faced boys, "what were you thinking? It's not as if the yarn just fell into her hands and she tied it to the two of you. Why would you let her play with mum's yarn?"

"It wasn't that high up in the cupboard." Harry said weakly. "We figured if we weren't supposed to use it, it would be away with the other yarn and pokey-sticks up top."

"Needles, Harry. They are knitting needles. They weren't up high because mum keeps her current or next project on a shelf she doesn't have to reach to get to." She sighed heavily. "Just collect it all up and I'll set it right again." She didn't forget learning 'the lesson of the yarn' as she had dubbed it, the hard way herself not too long ago, and her mum's patient but stern reaction.

After not too long, the living room was set to rights again and Bill and Kayla were out the door, promising to be back around lunch time. Ginny and Harry sat down on the couch, relaxing in each others' presence. Harry sat with his back against one of the arms and one leg stretched across the sofa with the other dangling off the edge. Ginny was pulled into his embrace with her back against his chest and mimicking his position.

"So," Ginny started after a luxuriously wonderful moment of resting in Harry's arms, "Bill called you my boyfriend."

"Yeah, he did." Harry agreed.

"I realized that we hadn't exactly talked about that part. Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"Do you want me to be your boyfriend?" Harry asked, trying to dodge answering directly and showing again exactly how smitten he was with the witch.

"I want to know if you want to be my boyfriend." She answered, beginning to get impatient.

"I want to be your boyfriend." He said softly into her hair and pulling her tighter against his chest. _And so much more,_ he added silently.

"Good, because I want to be your girlfriend." She replied, nestling into his embrace.

"Good." He said simply.

"Good, that's all you can come up with?" she asked.

"Yeah, well, I can think of something else I'd rather be doing with my mouth instead, so 'good' is the best I can come up with at the moment." He said, reiterating her words from earlier in the morning. Ginny turned in his arms so she was facing him.

"Is that right?" she asked, her lips hovering centimeters away from his.

"That's right." He answered, brushing his lips over hers before backing away. "Eating, for one thing," he said, pushing Ginny gently out of his arms. "I haven't eaten yet this morning and I'm starving." Ginny stared incredulously as Harry's form retreated into the kitchen and rooted around in the ice box for something to eat.

"If you're just going to stand in my kitchen and eat, I'm going back to bed." She said, turning and heading back upstairs.

"Gin, come on," she heard around a mouthful of something, "Don't be like that."

"I'm tired Harry. Someone came in my room and woke me up nearly an hour before I would have gotten up otherwise. I'm going back to bed. You can come get me when you're done." She said, knowing how much he could eat and that she could at least get a short nap before he followed her upstairs.

Harry didn't know if this was some sort of trick girls played, seeing if he would follow her… He would, but he was so hungry. Just a few bites and he'd head upstairs.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry trod up the stairs of the Burrow to find his girlfriend's room and wake her up for the second time that morning. When he opened the door, he couldn't help but noticing how cute she was all curled up. He gently walked over to the bed and bent down to her level and ran a hand over her arm.

"Mmmm…" she mumbled sleepily. "Issat you Harry?"

"Yeah it's me. Are you going to wake up now?" he asked softly.

"No… come nap with me." She said blearily.

"Miss Weasley, are you trying to get me in bed with you?" Harry asked, mocking being affronted while toeing his shoes off.

"Mmmhmm… hurry up." She said, pulling him onto the mattress and burrowing back into her comforter. He quickly lay down next to the sleepy witch and draped an arm around her while the other propped his head up. He watched Ginny sleep for a few minutes before he drifted off himself.

Ginny woke up some time later with the distinct feeling that something just wasn't right. She stretched and turned and saw something she hadn't been expecting. There was a boy in her bed! Not just any boy either, Harry Potter, her longtime secret love and one of her best friends in the world. She ran over the events of the morning and realized that it wasn't all a dream as she had been thinking it might have been, but was in fact real. Harry had admitted he loved her as well, and evidently decided to take a nap with her.

Gently, trying not to wake him up, but unable to resist, Ginny ran her fingers along the smooth plains of his face. _ This is what he's supposed to be like_, she thought to herself. _Not all stressed with worry lines running across his face. He needs to relax and just be Harry. Hopefully I can help him with that._ Her fingers strayed and ran across his lips, feeling the softness of them. She was surprised to feel him place a gentle kiss against her fingers.

"Good morning sunshine." She heard him say softly.

"Good morning yourself," she replied in the same tone, removing her hand from his face until he grabbed it with his own and entwined their fingers, resting their joined hands near his chest.

"Tell me I didn't dream this all up." He said, letting go of her hand to draw her closer to himself.

"If you did, I did too, and I don't want to wake up." She replied, snuggling into his warm body. Harry took the opportunity and bent his head fractionally to kiss her gently on the lips. As he pulled away, Ginny snaked her hand up from its spot next to his heart and around his neck to hold him in place. The kiss quickly escalated until Harry pulled back, groaning.

"Oh Gin, we should stop."  
"You don't want to kiss me?" She asked, pouting, wondering what she was doing wrong to elicit such a reaction.

"No, I want to kiss you." Harry was quick to assuage her fears. "I just don't think kissing you like this, in your bed, is the best idea. I want to take things slow and do this right, which is why I think we should stop for now." He accentuated the statement by gently pressing his hips into hers, letting her feel how worked up he was getting just by kissing her.

"Oh." She said, pulling back slightly, unprepared for the revelation of the depth of his desire for her.

"Did I completely freak you out?" Harry asked a moment later as he absorbed the shock still written across her face.

"No. Not _completely_." Ginny replied, heavily enunciating the last word. "Come on, we should be getting up, though. Bill and Kayla will be coming back any time now and we should at least be working on having something ready for lunch." With that said, Ginny shoved Harry out of her bed; this wasn't really hard to do in her tiny bed. As she looked at him lying helplessly on her floor staring up at her, she felt a strange feeling flow through her. Ginny did the only thing she could think to do and threw a pillow on his face. "Come on, get up already you bum! The day is wasting away on us!"

Ginny stepped over him and headed downstairs, knowing he would follow her in a moment or two. As she heard his steps coming downstairs as she entered the kitchen, Ginny mentally patted herself on the back for knowing so well what he would do.

"You know I'll have to pay you back for that." He whispered into her ear as he came up behind her.

"Oh? And what will you do? Make me eat my own cooking for lunch?" she asked sarcastically, knowing that Harry would never condemn her to such a fate. Her mother's skills did not transfer to her only daughter, something that plagued Molly terribly until she found Harry more than apt in a kitchen and merely needing a bit of direction on how to run a wizarding kitchen as opposed to a muggle one. Since then, Harry has cooked for Ginny whenever he was over and Molly wasn't home.

"I just might do that." He said, recalling the burned chocolate chip biscuits she had made for the previous Christmas which were somehow raw inside. "Or maybe I'll do something much worse." He said ominously, while flexing his fingers in front of her, wrapping his upper arms around her body, proving he could keep her in place if he wanted.

"You wouldn't." she said, slowly stepping out of his embrace as he loosened his hold. Of course he let her go. What fun was a tickle war without the build-up of anticipation? _Kind of like sex_, he mused, though the thought only excited him further. Ginny mistook the low growl emanating from his throat as one of intimidation and took off, squealing through the house. Unconsciously adopting a somewhat feral grin, Harry began his pursuit.

He hadn't heard her go upstairs, so the first place he looked was in the living room. Sure enough, she was crouched down between two chairs hoping he wouldn't see her and would make his way upstairs allowing her to double back behind him and get him… again. Unfortunately for her master plan, Harry could easily see the grown woman hiding between the chairs.

"There's really not enough there to cover your hiding spot, Gin." He said, slowly advancing toward her, both drawing out the game and making sure he could see all her movements.

Just as he anticipated, she vaulted from a crouch out of her makeshift hiding spot and tried darting around him. Harry grabbed for her, but only caught her arm, twisting her body around toward him. Giggling, Ginny pulled out of his grasp. The force of his abrupt change of direction sent Harry sprawling onto the couch but he just leapt right back to his feet and chased Ginny up the stairs, grinning.

****

Hermione was thankful for the girls who agreed to cover the rest of her shift at St. Mungo's so she could head home at lunch and try to make peace between the Weasley siblings before things got too out of hand. Wondering at the crazy family she had married into entirely too early, she walked in the door and heard… nothing. Unsure if Ginny and her daughter were napping or out somewhere, Hermione walked upstairs to check if anyone was there. As she neared Ginny's room, she heard something entirely unexpected.

"Harry!" Ginny screamed breathlessly. "Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Harry!"

Eyes widening, Hermione quickly backed away from the door and made her way downstairs with her hand clapped over her mouth. Bill walked in with Kayla on his hip moments after Hermione found her way downstairs. Noticing Hermione's shocked expression, he asked what was the matter as he placed the toddler on the floor.

"Ginny… Harry… upstairs" she muttered waving her hand in the general direction of the stairs. A few seconds passed before she realized that wasn't the right thing to say as he barreled past her and quickly made his way upstairs. Hermione apparated in front of Ginny's door and tried to stop her brother-in-law from entering his sister's room.

"Whoa!" they heard Harry exclaim, "You know, you really need a bigger bed if you're gonna switch positions on me like that." Hearing that, Bill pushed his way past Hermione and threw open the door. Quickly covering her eyes, Hermione tried to pull him back but to no avail. At first everything was quiet, then she heard the… laughter?

"Hermione, why are you covering your eyes?" Ginny asked, giggling.

"So I don't see anything I'd have to erase from my memory." She replied succinctly.

"What exactly did you think you'd walk in on?" Ginny asked, a mischievous tone mingling with the laughter.

Cautiously opening her eyes, Hermione saw Ginny straddling Harry and pinning his arms down to the bed. They were both fully clothed, which was a twist Hermione wasn't expecting.

"Um, well… that… only with slightly less… clothing." She muttered. Suddenly aware of their position and how it looked, Ginny quickly crawled off of Harry and they both sat up, unconsciously straightening their attire, with Harry trying valiantly to hide the erection that had grown a bit with Ginny's sudden dominance over him.

"What was going on in here?" Bill asked, finally finding his voice.

"Tickle war." Harry said clearing his throat.

All the pieces started clicking together in Hermione's brain and she couldn't help it. She started giggling. Ginny soon followed, still wound up from all the tickling she had received. Harry and Bill started chuckling along with them.

Kayla made her way into the room and started squealing with laughter along with the grownups, which only served to fuel them more.

Rememer: Reviews are love!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. But I'd be thrilled if you give me reviews and let me know your thoughts on JKR's characters I'm shamelessly playing with.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Cheriy, who's anonymous review got me thinking about continuing the story in the first place, and to Stephanie O who was amazing and kind and gave great feedback. I love you both SO much and I hope you enjoy. =)

A/N: Thanks for those of you who gave such great feedback on the first part of this. I really thought it was just going to be a one-shot, but you've gotten me to continue it, and this chapter is over 5,000 words longer than the last one. =) I just couldn't stop writing!

I have to apologize that some of the portrayals are a bit unrealistic. Over-exaggerated/ under-exaggerated, not shown enough or just plain not how we tend to respond to certain stimuli. I figure its fiction though, so they can act however I tell them to for the sake of the story.

Also, Ginny has insane mood swings. She's got a lot on her mind in all sorts of areas and it affects her mood. AKA- she's a woman.

OH! Before I forget: There is **major smuttiness** in this chapter. I've warned you at the beginning of the first smut-tastic sequence and again when it's over if you want to skip over it, but there's more at the end I didn't block out/ separate that way. Young readers, beware.

*Read my other stories and review please*Feedback is always appreciated*Hope you enjoy*

"Good night Princess. I love you always and forever and I will always be here whenever you need me." Ginny whispered quietly before kissing her niece goodnight, surreptitiously wiping the tears away as she backed out and shut the door of the Spartan bedroom. As she expected, strong arms wrapped around her as she turned around, bringing her gently into her boyfriend's embrace.

"It's gonna be okay, you know. You'll still see her. And you'll get to send her home to Ron and Hermione instead of being the one to deal with sugar effects and tantrums and picking up her toys." Harry said, whispering into her ear.

"I know. She's just been such a huge part of my life for so long. I don't know what I'm going to do without her there all the time. God, I'm going to have to find a job." Ginny replied, more morose than ever.

"Not if you don't want to," he said, absentmindedly playing with her fingers, one more than the others, though he didn't realize it. "You could bum around the house all the time, keeping your mum company. Take over taking care of your Auntie Muriel for her." He offered a few alternatives. "Or you could get into charity, volunteer yourself as a dog walker—" Ginny could tell he was just beginning to warm up and, deciding she wasn't in the mood for whatever silliness his mind would inevitably conjure, chose to just stop him in his tracks.

"Or I could take the money Ron and Hermione have been able to spare to give me for watching Kayla and buy a whole bunch of lingerie and keep the incredibly sexy Boy-Who-Lived in bed until I had a child of my own to take care of."

It took a few moments, but Harry finally unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth to respond.

"Or you could do that." He quietly agreed. "But you know it wouldn't just be your child to take care of. I'd get a say, too." It was Ginny's turn to gasp quietly.

"Harry. Are we seriously talking about this right now?" She asked, looking up at him questioningly.

"I wouldn't be opposed to it." He answered, unsure if he was referring to talking about it or moving their relationship up a few steps, though he was silently cursing himself for having left the little blue box in his sock drawer instead of keeping it on his person just in case the right time chanced upon them.

"I love you." She said, kissing his chest softly before looking back up at his face, "but I can't actually talk about it right now. Not when I have to go downstairs and be happy that Ron and Hermione are actually taking responsibility for their family while my heart is breaking at not seeing Kayla every day anymore."

"Whenever you're ready." he agreed, kissing her on the head before pointing the way downstairs, breathing a silent sigh of relief that he hadn't missed a prime proposal moment just because he didn't have the ring with him.

Once downstairs, Harry sat himself in the only chair left and Ginny sat down sideways on his lap, wrapping an arm loosely around his neck.

Ron shook himself before continuing his conversation. Even though they had been dating nearly a year, it was still disconcerting to see his little sister drape herself across his best friend so casually. He was happy when they started dating because he got to see Harry more, though he hadn't really thought that it was possible, but Harry proved him wrong, showing up wherever Ginny was whenever he had the slightest inkling of an opportunity. It was actually this phenomenon that prompted him and Hermione to begin looking for their own place in earnest.

They'd been working like maniacs for a few years and proven themselves to their bosses while putting away a tidy little sum of money. Realizing that Ginny wasn't always going to be available to watch their daughter for them and that they were relying on her entirely too much (as Hermione noted with dismay one night Ginny and Harry were out on a date and she had to put her daughter to bed, with much effort since she didn't even know her own child's bedtime routine due to constantly rotating shifts and better pay for third shift), the two young parents decided it was high time to take their family into their own hands.

"It's green with pink and purple hearts on the wall." He said in answer to whoever had asked what Kayla's bedroom in their new house looked like. "Since she's crazy about green for some reason," he said glancing in Ginny's direction. She just shrugged with a small smile on her face, ignoring how most of the room that was listening also looked pointedly at the green top she wore. "and hearts are her favorite shape." He said that part proudly, sure that this was because of the giant heart balloon he bought her from the store and periodically re-inflated with helium.

"But why am I telling you guys this? The reason we're all here is because you're gonna help us move… right?" he asked, suddenly wary of his siblings' helpful attitudes. Laughing, they all reassured him that they weren't all playing a mean prank and were actually going to help.

In the midst of all the conversations sprouting up, as is bound to happen when you get such a large group together, Angelina asked Ginny what she was going to do with her days. It didn't escape her notice when Ginny blushed and glanced at Harry, who wrapped his arm further around her waist so his hand was resting on her stomach.

"I'm not sure. Harry asked me that earlier and I was no closer to coming up with an answer. He suggested keeping mum company keeping house and going back and forth to Auntie Muriel's, volunteering somewhere, and walking dogs. Not actually very helpful suggestions," she said, faking admonition his direction.

Giggling at the ideas, Angelina pressed on. "No, definitely not. But what do _you_ want to do?"

Ignoring the few others whose attention they had garnered, Ginny sighed and answered.

"Honestly, I don't know. I've been thinking about it for a while, but it's hard for me to imagine having a different routine than the one we've forged over the last few months since Kay's gotten older."

"And since Harry's been around all the time." Angelina pointed out, not one to miss the chance to embarrass the two.

"That too." Ginny said, kissing him softly and garnering the attention of a few more siblings.

"Oy! No snogging in front of us!" One of the twins yelled her direction, successfully making sure the rest of the heads turned their direction.

Ignoring who she knew to be her boyfriend, Angelina continued the conversation as if there had been no interruption.

"Since you'll miss having Kayla around so much, have you considered that babies might just be your "thing"? You should think about getting-"

"NO!" several voices yelled frantically.

"—A job working at a day care." Angelina continued, louder than she had started out speaking.

"Much as I appreciate all of your input on whether or not I consider working with children for a living," Ginny said sarcastically to the room around her, "I don't think that watching a bunch of strangers' kids would cut it for me. I'm still thinking about what I want with my life and when I figure it out, I'm sure you guys will know almost immediately. Though you should know," she added, almost as an afterthought, "that no matter your opinions, what I decide is ultimately my choice, not yours and you don't actually get a say in it. You might." She told Harry in a not-quite-so-loud voice, knowing full well that her brothers thought Angelina was going to tell her she should get pregnant and subtly telling them what she thought they ought to know- namely that the only people who got to have any input on that were her and Harry.

"Actually," she amended quietly a moment later, looking into his eyes, "your opinion would be most welcome."

"I'll get back with you on that." He said seriously, kissing her with as much love and tenderness as he dared given present company.

"I just want you to be happy. Whatever I can do to make that happen, I will." He promised.

"But what do you want?" she pressed.

"I want you. I'd be perfectly happy if the rest of our lives just carried on in this moment forever."

"Is that a proposal, Potter?" she teased.

"Not yet." He said smiling, not caring if he gave away the fact that he planned on proposing in the (near) future. He just wanted to see her eyes light up with laughter and smiles and jokes like they were instead of being shadowed by sadness as they'd been the past week or so.

"Tease." Ginny complained jokingly.

"You're one to talk!" He retorted, fingering the waistband of her pants that he had yet to get into, despite the length and seriousness of their relationship.

"Hey, it's up to you, babe." She said, referring to the conversation in which she informed him that she took her family's fertility rate much more seriously than her brothers did, and given the attention the Boy-Who-Lived was bound to attract shopping for baby things, she was not willing to run the risk of getting pregnant with a bastard child. No, they were staying celibate (if not exactly chaste) until she was a married woman, however long that took.

Bearing in mind her very firm, No-Chance-In-Hell-Potter stance on the subject was what froze his brain and tongue while talking to her outside Kayla's bedroom earlier that evening. _"She wants it too!" _was what his entire body was screaming at him and it took everything in him not to apparate them both immediately to his room in his flat to get that little box and put a ring on her finger as soon as possible.

"Not yet." He reiterated slowly, gauging her reaction. "Maybe after everything calms down and we're both thinking clearly."

"I love you." She replied, silently thanking him for not pushing her when she was so filled up with so many other thoughts and emotions and for being there for her through it all.

"I love you, too." He replied needlessly.

"And we all know you both love me!" Fred proclaimed loudly, reminding the two that they were not completely alone, much to the amusement of everyone else in the room, who had all been listening shamelessly to the private conversation. Angelina threw a pillow at her boyfriend for ruining the sweet moment, but Harry just beckoned him over, making smooching sounds and said "You know it Fred, come on over and give me some lovin'."

The entire room roared in amusement at the panicked look that flashed across Fred's face. It wasn't often someone got the better of one of the twins and they were all appreciating the moment, especially so soon after their sister's continued virginity was so broadly implied.

There was a squalling from upstairs as soon as they quieted enough to hear it. Ginny sighed and moved to get up, but Hermione stilled her, saying, "Don't. I'll get her," as she went to go take care of her daughter. The two came back down moments later, Hermione not seeing the point in putting the small girl back to bed when she would be woken up again and again anyways.

Ginny gazed at her niece, resting on Hermione's chest, knowing that that was how it was supposed to be, but she was still filled with a deep sense of longing and helplessness.

Watching the wistfulness on his girlfriend's face as she watched mother and daughter, Harry realized with a surprising amount of giddiness that his time as a bachelor was drawing quickly to a close. He drew Ginny closer so she was leaning against him and pressed a kiss in her hair. "It'll be okay. Trust me."

"I do trust you." She said, easily belying the fact that it was hard for her to trust after her first year experiences with Tom Riddle's diary. Trusting Harry was ingrained into her very being. She may not know much about her life, but she knew that she trusted him with everything she was.

The two were content after that simply to watch the goings-on of her family around them while staying curled around each other in a little cocoon of warmth. Just as Ginny was drifting off, she heard someone, probably Hermione, announce that it was time for them all to retire since they all had a long day ahead of them. Groaning a little bit because she didn't want to move, Ginny was entirely unprepared for Harry to scoop her up in his arms before standing. He swayed a bit because she had been on his lap so long and his legs had that pinprick feeling in them, but didn't falter in calling goodnight to the family, saying he was going to make sure she made it upstairs safely since she was too tired to do so by herself. Not wanting to argue the point (Hey, she was getting a free ride upstairs, got to cuddle her boyfriend a bit longer, and still didn't have to open her eyes), Ginny just mumbled goodnight to the world at large and snuggled in for the trip upstairs.

Upon depositing Ginny in her bed, Harry found that his girlfriend was unwilling to let go of her hold on him.

"C'mon Gin, let go. I need to get to sleep tonight, too."

"They're all still on your bed." She said, knowing that he was staying over, like everyone else, to be up and ready to help first thing in the morning. He was going to sleep on the couch since everyone else's beds were claimed by their original occupants and he didn't want to kip in Ron's room, as he had as a teen, now that Ron and Hermione were married. "Stay with me."

"They'll kill me." He said, resolve weakening with every moment she stayed attached to him.

"No they won't. Nothing's going to happen. We can even go down to breakfast in our clothes from tonight if it'll make you feel better."

Unable to resist the lure of actually getting to spend the night in bed with his girlfriend, Harry quickly stripped his shirt off, hanging it off the end of the bed, and climbed in behind her, thankful for the twin bed she still slept on as it meant they had to be close simply due to lack of room, which would be his excuse should anyone chance upon them cuddled so close together.

"Merlin, but I love you." He murmured quietly, wrapping an arm tightly around her already sleeping figure.

Harry woke several hours later feeling more refreshed than he could remember after a single night's sleep. It only took a moment for him to figure out why, as he registered Ginny's weight on his chest and her hair being what was making his nose tickle and twitch. Gently brushing her hair away from his face, he wrapped his arms around her sleeping form again and contented himself with memorizing her face and the feel of her body pressed against him as she slept peacefully on.

Startling him out of his thoughts an indeterminable length of time later, the door opened revealing Mr. Weasley, who looked just as surprised to see Harry there as Harry was to see him.

"It's time to get up." Was all the older man said before backing back out of the room.

Harry just sighed and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, hoping that going down to breakfast wouldn't be too difficult. He then stared at Ginny for a few more moments, relishing in what was sure to be the last time he'd get to hold her for a long while. Brushing kisses along the top of her head and running his hands up and down her back so as to wake her gently, Harry almost didn't notice the movement out of the corner of his eye. He did, however, take note when Arthur beckoned to him. Carefully extricating himself from her grasp, he shrugged his shirt on before making his way out into the hall where the older man waited.

"When are you going to make an honest woman of my daughter?" Arthur asked, not being one to mince words.

"I'm not making a dishonest woman of her." Harry answered succinctly, but continued on quietly, trying not to wake Ginny with the surprise conversation just outside her door. "And I realize you may not believe that due to what you walked in on this morning, but it is the truth. I will marry her though. Just as soon as she's ready."

"She's been crazy about you for near on half her life. What more do you think she needs before she's ready?" Arthur asked incredulously at this boy who seemed to be making excuses not to marry the girl whose childhood bedroom he woke up in, and with her parents under the roof, even!

"I think she needs to separate herself from Kayla a bit so she doesn't say yes to me to fill that void and end up resenting me for not being what she needed." Waiting for a verdict on his answer, knowing it likely meant the difference between being caught up in the middle of a huddle of overprotective older brothers and continuing on peacefully, was not the most pleasant thing in the world, but he knew he had nothing to hide, which was a slight relief. As if sensing this truth, Arthur sighed heavily.

"I suppose you're right. She's been put in a difficult position these past few years, but none of us have been in any position to change it up till now. She shouldn't have to figure out how to be an aunt instead of a mum, but it's too late to change now."

"It's not like it's been all bad though." Harry said, somehow defending how his two best friends got themselves into a situation they weren't ready for, and how it affected everyone else in their lives. "Kayla's been able to have someone love her 24/7 her whole life so far. And Ginny's been great at taking care of her and teaching her and I think it's shown her that having kids is something to look forward to." Despite not meaning it quite the way it might have come out, Harry blushed and Arthur looked at him sharply.

"It takes a lot to raise a child the right way. More than love, more than time, and more than money, though those all certainly help. Don't think either of you know what it takes to raise a child on your own."

"I think we know better than Ron and Hermione do right now." He retorted.

"What do we know better than Ron and Hermione?" Ginny asked, having woken up without Harry and wandered out to find him.

Exchanging a wordless glance with Arthur, in which his suspicion that this conversation was to be kept between the two of them for the time being was confirmed, Harry answered her quickly: "How much Kayla's going to miss you once she realizes that you're not coming with her to the new house." He wrapped an arm around Ginny's slumped shoulders as she remembered what this day was bringing. "We were just discussing the fact that she might act out because she doesn't quite get what's going on."

"Oh. Yeah." Ginny said, wiggling out of Harry's embrace and making her way to the restroom where she could cry peacefully under the stream of the shower for a few minutes before being happy and excited.

Sighing at her sudden change in demeanor, both men in the hall made their way to the stairs, realizing that it was neither the time nor place for a serious conversation.

Harry sat down at the table, realizing that he had nowhere to change into fresh clothes since Ginny was in the shower and Ron and Hermione were still upstairs. Actually, he realized, looking around, he was the only one up yet. A sudden flash of understanding made him realize that Arthur had probably realized he wasn't asleep downstairs and had a good guess as to where he'd be, and had given him a chance to extricate himself from that situation before Ginny's brothers had woken up. Feeling suddenly grateful to the older man, Harry decided he might as well get a start on the day and began cracking eggs into a large skillet as it seemed Molly wasn't up yet either.

As others began trickling downstairs, all of them complaining about Ginny taking up the bathroom, Harry began directing them to different chores after they'd relieved themselves out behind the chicken coops.

Molly made her way down to the kitchen, fretting about her children who were likely starving without her to cook for them, speeding up as she heard the laughter and chatter of a few of the boys. What she saw when she walked into her kitchen, though, was a sight she was wholly unprepared for. There stood Harry at her stovetop, directing the eggs in how to scramble and making sure the bacon didn't burn while Bill was dicing tomatoes and chives for the next batch of scrambled eggs, Charlie was cutting potatoes for hash browns and Ron was whisking up batter for pancakes. Her boys were actually taking care of fixing breakfast for the house! Nothing in her Never-You-Mind-How-Many-Years of life prepared her for such a sight so early in the morning. That they were all laughing at the girls who refused to get out of bed until Ginny was done in the bathroom was to be expected, but that they were working together to make breakfast and weren't just sitting there waiting for her to cook for them- Well!

As if he had heard her shocked intake of breath, Harry turned from his spot at the stove and grinned at her. "Morning, Molly. Have a seat; we'll have some breakfast together shortly."

Unused to taking such commands instead of giving them, Molly followed them, sitting down in shock.

"We thought you might enjoy a break from having to cook for everyone," he continued cheerfully, minding the food on the burners. "So I started making eggs and bacon. Since Charlie needs potatoes with every meal, I thought it was only fitting he got those ready. Bill suggested giving the next round of eggs a bit more flavor, so he set about that task. I'm sorry I didn't think about it for these ones," he said, putting a large serving dish filled with about a dozen scrambled eggs on the table, "but I'm just used to cooking for myself so I don't add much of anything to my cooking. You can do what you want with them though. Salsa is actually really good on them. Ah! Toast!" he exclaimed, realizing something he had forgotten to get ready. Pouncing on Ginny as she walked into the kitchen in amazement, still tousling her hair to get the excess water out, he gave her a quick kiss and asked if she'd please prepare some toast for breakfast, love. After waiting for her to mutter an assent (and perhaps a comment about her nutter of a boyfriend), he checked the bacon and began cooking the next round of eggs while continuing with his explanation of why they were all making breakfast.

"And so Ron comes in and asks why there aren't any pancakes. Bill looked up from the tomatoes he was dicing-it was the funniest thing- and shook his knife at him saying if he wanted pancakes so bad, he could just make them himself! And Ron, you have to put heat under it, not just put them on the stove, that won't cook them at all." He said, directing his attention to his best friend, frowning at Ron's lack of kitchen abilities. "Here." He said, muttering the charm for his friend before turning his attention back to his own skillets.

"Really, Molly," Harry said, happily munching on a piece of bacon he had pulled off the stove just moments before, "Did you even give him any basic kitchen tutoring? He's completely helpless."

"Hey!"Ron protested, knowing it was true, but not liking it any better for that fact.

"Unlike Ginny here, who is progressing amazingly in the kitchen. Your toast is wonderful, love." He told her, snatching a piece of the darkened bread and bravely eating it without any hesitation. Ginny beaming at him was enough reward for the bit of toast that _might_ have gotten stuck in his throat because it was just a tad too dry. He figured it wouldn't have happened if he was using the toast to sop up whatever was left on his plate, so forgave the slightly overdone bread. He really didn't expect much else from his girlfriend, anyway. She was progressing, but still couldn't cook very well.

By this point, the rest of the family but for Hermione and Kayla, who was having a hard time deciding what to wear, had relieved their bladders and made their way down to the kitchen for breakfast as well. They were all in shock to see Molly sitting with a plate in front of her and Harry and the others getting the food ready.

Sitting down, they all took their places and began filling their plates up with enough when Hermione yelled downstairs. "Ginny! Do you know where Kayla's shoes are?"

"No. Check the animals! She likes to let them walk around sometimes." Ginny called back up to her sister-in-law, wondering how Hermione would get through the morning routine after that day without Ginny there to coach her along. Distracted from this train of thought by Harry bending over to get a dish out of a low cupboard, Ginny sighed happily at the sight of his bum waving about at her.

"'Vat iz it, Jinee?" Fleur asked from across the table. Flushing and glancing guiltily back at Harry, who was thankfully standing straight up again; she muttered a hasty "nothing."

Molly chortled from her chair a few people over. Angelina looked curiously at her boyfriend's mum who was sitting on the side of her not occupied by the blonde-haired Veela.

"Ginny was just admiring Harry's bum." She said wisely, despite there having been no way for her to have seen what Ginny was actually looking at.

"Mum!" Ginny exclaimed, embarrassed, thankful that the boys were all engaged in other conversations and not listening to the women.

Harry just grinned and finished plating the rest of the food, the other boys having abandoned him in order to grab a bite to eat before it was all gone. After depositing the food on the table, he planted a kiss on her cheek and pulled out the empty chair by her, though it meant sitting in the middle of the small group of women.

"It's okay." He whispered in her ear, "I like looking at yours too."

"Oh Merlin!" she exclaimed, embarrassed beyond belief. He wasn't supposed to find out she'd been ogling him over breakfast! He'd never let her live this down!

Breakfast proceeded uneventfully after that, with Hermione and Kayla making their way downstairs in short order, shoes having evidently been found. Instead of sitting in her chair, Kayla made her way over to Harry's lap, deciding it was the perfect breakfast spot. He happily shared his food with her, though he did steal Ginny's fork after Kayla stole his.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, even though she was finished eating. Deciding it didn't really matter, she laid her head on Harry's shoulder and just looked lovingly down at the red-headed child on his lap. Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders while slowly continuing to eat with his right hand around the little girl on his lap. Out of nowhere, a camera flashed and they all looked up.

"Sorry." Ron muttered half-heartedly, not really meaning it. "I thought it might be a good idea to get pictures of our last day here and first day at the new house."

"That is a good idea." Ginny agreed before resuming her previous activity of looking at her niece, who looked back up at her.

"I have fun with you today?" the little girl asked hopefully.

"Yes, love, you and I are going to have fun today while everyone else moves your belongings to the new house." Ginny replied, smiling, grateful that she got to spend the day with her niece instead of being the one to move her out of her house and immediate place in her life.

"Uncoo Har-we too?" she asked excitedly.

"You'll have to ask him." Ginny answered. Kayla looked up at Harry, eyes wide.

"PEAS Uncoo Har-we? You take me see Ameeoos?

"A-mee-oos?" He asked slowly. "You want me to take you to see the animals at the zoo?"

"YES! Less go!" She took his remark as agreement and moved to get off his lap.

"Hold up a minute, Princess." He told her, unconsciously having picked up Ginny's nickname for the girl, "you have to eat more breakfast before we go anywhere. And you need to ask if you can go to the zoo with me and Ginny." He added the last part with a heavy heart, realizing that, for nearly the first time, he and Ginny weren't the ones she had to ask for something. If Ron and Hermione were going to be the parents, they had to be the ones she asked if she could do something.

Puzzled, Kayla looked at him before turning her attention to Ginny.

"We can please go see ameeoos today?" she asked nicely in her little-girl language. Ginny's heart broke as she responded.

"You have to ask mommy and daddy if it's okay, Princess."

"Why?" the girl questioned. "I ask you."

"I know, honey, but from now on you need to ask mommy and daddy, not Aunt Ginny." Harry squeezed her shoulders in support as she clenched her eyes shut against the tears threatening to spill over.

"Mommy." Kayla said loudly, commanding the attention of her mother. "I please go see ameeoos with My Ginny and Uncoo Har-we?"

Looking slightly confused at the fact that she was being asked permission for something Ginny would be doing with her, Hermione quickly gave her consent.

Kayla and Harry finished eating quickly and said goodbye to everyone, Harry having decided that a freshening and neatening charm on his clothes would have to suffice. Ginny made sure to grab a camera along with their jackets and her purse. She wanted to document the day for more than Hermione's scrapbook, which she was sure was why Ron wanted to take pictures.

Harry paid for them to enter the zoo and asked Kayla which animals she wanted to see first.

"Um… bears. I want Pooh." Ginny and Harry chuckled.

"Sweetheart, Pooh isn't here. He lives in the Hundred Acre Woods, remember? He doesn't live at the zoo." This was the simplest way for Ginny to explain that the beloved animal wouldn't be found there that day. The idea that he only lived in her books was a little too lofty an idea for the three-year-old.

"Oh. We see his brother?" she asked hopefully.

"Maybe. I don't know. Let's see." She said as they continued trekking toward the bear exhibit.

The day continued on, looking at animals and relating them to the ones in Kayla's stories. They only stopped looking at animals to sit down for lunch in the cafeteria that was converted from the previous lion enclosure.*

An older lady at the zoo with her grandchildren who were about ten years old stopped by their table to commend Harry and Ginny on how well-behaved their beautiful daughter was. Blushing, Ginny informed her that Kayla was her niece, but thanks anyway.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, she just looks so much like you…" the lady murmured before taking a closer look at Ginny, and Harry alongside her.

"You look like someone... Have I seen you in the paper?" she asked Harry curiously.

"It depends on which papers you read." He said evasively, thankful that his hair, which was growing out a bit, covered his scar.

"I thought so." She said smiling. "I want you to know, you had the support of my knitting club. We couldn't do much but poke at those who wouldn't mind their business when they came a'calling, but we kept rooting for you. I believed in you the whole time, especially after Xeno published that piece about you when you were in school. He was my niece's husband, you know."

"Well, thank you very much. Luna was a good friend of ours in school." He said, gesturing between himself and Ginny. "I'm glad to hear that her extended family supported us as well, even though we were really just a bunch of kids fighting for a chance at a future."

"If you ask me, dear, there's nothing more worthwhile to fight for. And it seems to me you're getting your future just fine. Just fine indeed." She repeated, nodding as she looked between Harry and Ginny again, as though their love was a palpable thing she could actually see.

"Well thank you. I think it's definitely heading that way at any rate." He said smiling, reaching to hold Ginny's hand on top of the table.

"Are you saying you're not satisfied with your life, Potter?" Ginny asked, squeezing his hand to let him know she was just playing.

"There are a few places there's room for improvement." He said somewhat evasively, stroking Ginny's fingers.

"Don't worry, lad. It'll happen soon enough." The lady said wisely.

"Thank you, it was nice to meet you…" Harry trailed off, realizing that though the woman knew who they were, they didn't know her name.

"Undine Clapsaddle," the woman said, revealing her name, "Though most people just call me Undine."

"Well it was a pleasure to meet you, Undine, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day." Ginny said politely.

"You too, dear. Oh, would you like me to take a picture of you two and your niece?" she asked, spotting the camera Ginny had been carrying around all morning.

"That would be lovely, thank you." She replied, handing over the camera.

After that picture was taken Ginny suggested taking one with her grandchildren, who, when not making silly faces at Kayla, had been whispering excitedly to each other that they were actually at the zoo, meeting HARRY POTTER, the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Defeat-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The two kids' eyes widened considerably and they jumped to get into the picture, hastily thanking them ever-so-much-and can-they-have-a-copy-please. Harry told them that he'd be sure to send a copy of the picture to their grandmother via post owl and they'd have it soon enough. Shortly thereafter, they all said goodbye, Kayla not wanting to separate from her new friends.

"Come on, love," Ginny said, wiping the girl clean of what remained of her lunch, "Let's go see the rest of the animals, and then you can go see your new room at the new house. Do you want that?"

"Yes, please," the girl said, eyes widening at the reminder that she was getting a new room that was all hers and she didn't have to share when her aunts and uncles were over.

They spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and looking at the animals, sometimes mimicking them for Kayla's amusement. Neither Harry nor Ginny forgot their brief encounter with Undine and her prediction that their lives would continue progressing together relatively quickly.

Getting home around 3:30, they put Kayla down for a late nap in Ginny's bed since the girl's bedroom set had already been donated to charity and her parents bought a new big-girl bed for the new house, where everyone was busy putting things away, leaving them home alone.

As soon as they were back downstairs, Ginny turned and pulled Harry by his collar to her, kissing him roughly. She raked her hands down his chest and torso, then around his body until she was squeezing his deliciously distracting arse and pulling him yet closer to her.

INSERT LUSTY FOOLING AROUND SEQUENCE HERE

"I've wanted to do that all day." She whispered breathlessly as they pulled apart from the kiss. Not satisfied that she was stopping, Harry hungrily attacked her lips again, parting her lips and engaging her tongue with his own. Sliding his hands under her shirt, Harry's fingers ghosted over the soft skin of her stomach for several minutes before moving upwards, delighted to find she was using a support charm instead of wearing a bra.

Unable to decide where she most wanted to touch him, Ginny's hands wandered from Harry's bum up his back, feeling the muscles that had developed during his time as an Auror and back around to his chest, pinching his hardened nipples. Loving the sounds he was making, she broke away from his kiss and pushed him until he was backed up against the wall and deftly undid the buttons on his shirt, leaving his chest bare for her to see. Taking one of the hardened buds into her mouth, she licked and sucked it, realizing why men found it such a turn-on.

Whimpering, Harry quickly reversed their positions, pressing Ginny into the wall before roughly pulling one of her legs high around his hips. Attaching his lips to her neck, he pushed her shirt up as he rocked his hips into her own. Encouraged by her loud gasp, he let the hand that wasn't fully engaged with touching every inch of her leg available to him squeeze her breasts, alternating between rough and gentle caresses, barely touching enough to tease. Thrusting his hips into the void between hers, Harry let himself imagine there were several fewer layers between them and he was meeting the wet heat that was soaking through her underwear instead of the warm cotton of his own pants.

"I want you. You have no idea how much I want you." He murmured against her skin, rubbing desperately against her core.

"OH! Gods, Harry, yes!" Ginny whisper-screamed as her world exploded in a flash of light. Clutching his shoulders as she came, she pressed hard against his erection, needing to feel the length and hardness of it against her.

Swearing he could feel the convulsions of her body despite the layers separating the two, Harry's own release was triggered by the strength of hers and he felt his pants grow hot and sticky.

Breathing heavily against each other, Harry straightened their clothes and muttered the charm that would clean the mess from his pants.

END LUSTY FOOLING AROUND SEQUENCE HERE

Harry leaned his forehead against Ginny's and raggedly voiced his love for her.

"I love you too." Ginny said, kissing him swiftly before leading him over to the couch. Pulling him down with her, Ginny told him to lay back, which he willingly did, eager to see what she was going to do next. Climbing so that she was half on top of him and half between him and the back of the couch, Ginny twined their legs together while kissing his face.

"Go to sleep. It's been a long, wonderful, exhausting day and we deserve a nap." She whispered when her kisses neared his ear. Nipping his earlobe, she continued kissing and tasting her way down his neck until skin met the fabric of his shirt. Resting her head on his chest, Ginny smiled when Harry wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair before drifting off to sleep.

She was wakened a short time later by a flash going off in her face. Mumbling that she hated whoever it was, Ginny idly swatted at their legs before burying her face in Harry's chest.

"Oh, Ron, leave them alone, they're cute." Said a voice Ginny vaguely identified as her sister-in law.

"I don't want my sister to be 'cute' with some guy though." Ron protested.

"'S'my boyfriend." Ginny argued into Harry's shirt, still half-asleep.

"It doesn't matter! You're still my sister!" Ron argued back hotly.

Poking Harry in the stomach because she didn't want to have to really deal with Ron as that would entail getting up, Ginny told him to make Ron go away.

"Go 'way Ron." Harry muttered with as much conviction as he could muster, which wasn't much as he was happily curled up with his girlfriend and half-asleep still.

"No. We're ready to show Kayla the new house. Where is she, anyway?"

"She's still asleep. Let us finish our nap." Ginny answered, frustrated that she was starting to wake up, which only served to wake her up further.

"No, get up." Ron told them.

Not knowing what the other was doing since both had their eyes shut still, both Harry and Ginny sent rude hand gestures in Ron's direction, which Hermione quickly took a picture of.

Laughing at the growling sound coming from Ginny's throat, Hermione told them that they really did want to talk to Harry and Ginny so it would be great if they got up.

"Fine." Ginny said, sitting up and nudging Harry to follow suit. For his part, Harry didn't want to be separated from the warmth emanating from Ginny's body so he sat up rather quickly, drawing Ginny close to his side.

''What's up?" he asked, looking between Ron and Hermione when neither said anything for a few moments.

It's just that… I'm really not sure how to say this." Hermione said wringing her hands before perching on the opposite side of the couch from them. Ron rubbed her shoulders reassuringly. "But, I just wanted to thank you so much." She said, looking into Ginny's eyes. "You've done so much for us by watching Kayla all this time. I know we weren't ready for her, and you being willing to take care of her while we got ourselves together… it just means so much. I really didn't think it would be this long but we kind of just got into a groove and whenever we did get a break, Ron and I wanted to work on our marriage. We've kind of taken it for granted that you'd always be there and take care of things for us. It really wasn't fair to you, and I'm so sorry for that, but you've had the greatest attitude and have been so fantastic through all of this, I just want you to know how much we appreciate it." Hermione gushed through tears cascading down her face.

"Oh, I know, Hermione. And really, I'm glad I've had this chance to get to know Kay. She's so sweet and wonderful and funny and I can't imagine NOT having been there for her all this time." Ginny said, subconsciously letting them know that it really wasn't for them that she took care of Kayla, but for the little girl herself. "She's so precious and I'm glad my being here has helped you guys and if you ever need anything, just let me know. I love you so much." She said crying, in a high-pitched voice that only emotional girls can achieve or understand.

"I love you too." Hermione told her in the same voice, hugging her sister in law tightly.

Harry and Ron just looked at each with facial expressions that clearly expressed their shared opinion that women were mental and shrugged their shoulders, knowing they'd never understand.

"You too, Harry." Hermione said, separating from Ginny slightly more controlled.

"Love you too Hermione." Harry said, wary of another round of tears.

"You've done a lot these past few months." She told him seriously.

Drawing Ginny close again, Harry responded, hoping he didn't cause more sobbing.

"You're family, Hermione. You've always been like a sister to me. And it's like Gin said, Kay's so precious. I couldn't be hanging around all the time and not do anything with her. She's amazing. I'm just glad we've gotten the chance to spend so much time with her. It just makes it all that much better that it was my niece." Harry said honestly. "And if I may say so, I'm really glad you two are taking control of your lives like this, but it is going to be hard on us." He said, squeezing Ginny's shoulder. "We're used to seeing her all the time and now she's not going to be here. It already feels different. Which I guess is good. It's just so different from how we've been living." Ginny nodded along with him, her tears still flowing freely and choking her up.

Guilt flashed across both Ron and Hermione's faces.

"I know. It wasn't fair all this time. And it's not fair to you that we're suddenly changing things up. We're just trying to do right by our family." Hermione said, pleading with them to understand why this change was necessary.

"We know. And we're proud of you." Harry said, looking at both his best friends. "And it's going to be a big adjustment for all of us. We just- it might be hard and we might take it out on you. Doesn't mean we don't love you, we're just figuring out how to deal with the changes." Harry explained.

"What _are_ you going to be doing?" Hermione asked, trying not to be too eager, but wanting to know her sister-in-law's plans. The talk the previous night really whet her appetite and she realized how little she'd connected with her best friends in the time since she and Ron had decided it was time to buy a house.

"Not really sure." Ginny answered. "Harry's probably going to go back to full-time during the week instead of spreading his hours out so much. They can get one of the newer guys to take weekends. I might look into some training programs for healing. I've always been rather proficient at healing. Had to be, with the twins as brothers." She said almost as an afterthought. "I could start writing and submitting articles to the Quibbler and the Prophet. I might try out for a reserve team next Quidditch season. I might decide I want to stay at home full-time, like mum has. I don't really know yet." She said, shrugging her shoulders with the air of someone who wasn't overly concerned about the topic.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Harry asked, somewhat worried about his friend as Ron had been staring fixedly at Ginny since she had pulled away from hugging Hermione and he hadn't said anything.

"You- hickey. And you were talking about kids, now staying at home like mum." He stammered out, unsure if his point was gotten across or not.

"Hickeys don't make babies, Ron." Ginny told her brother crossly. Turning to face Harry, she asked where it was. Instead of simply pointing it out to her, Harry leaned in and traced his handiwork with his mouth.

"Right here." He murmured against her skin. Despite her eyes rolling back for a moment because Merlin-was-he-talented, Ginny pushed back from him, laughing.

"Yes, I'm sure it really needs you to make it more noticeable."

Harry just grinned back at her, fully aware of the strangled scream that had emanated from his best friend when he kissed Ginny's neck.

Pecking his lips because he was just so adorable when flaunting their relationship in front of her brother, Ginny turned back to Ron, laughing at the purple flush he had acquired.

"We're not doing anything wrong, you know." She pointed out before going back and addressing his previous comments. "If you were listening, I said I've loved spending time with YOUR daughter. And I might decide to stay home like mum did. Don't know if or when that will happen. I haven't really decided much about what the near future holds in store for me. Though if I DO decide to be a stay-at-home mum relatively soon, you really shouldn't have a problem with it. It was your daughter after all, that's gotten me started." Realizing she was about to make him explode in some way, Ginny abruptly switched tactics.

"I think I hear her, actually. Why don't Harry and I go bring her down and then we can make our way to the new house, yeah?" Ginny said, pulling Harry up with her before Ron could argue.

Leaving Hermione to calm Ron down a bit, the two made their way up to Ginny's room, where Kayla was surely enough, walking around, looking for her hidden toys.

Seeing her aunt and uncle, Kayla beamed at them before looking confused again.

"Where my toys?" she asked while moving to be picked up by Ginny.

"They're at the new house, my love. Are you ready to go see it?"

"Yeah!" the girl replied excitedly.

"Did you have a good sleep?" Harry asked, feeling like the very important question had been skipped over with too much haste.

"Yup. I dreamded about the pem-gwins and the lions and the pooh bears and the birdies." She told him happily. "We go see the new house with my toys now?"

"Sure thing," Harry said kissing her forehead, "But mommy and daddy are downstairs, so we should go see them and have them take you, huh?" he said.

"Yeah! Let's see mommy daddy!" Wriggling from her aunt's grasp, Kayla nearly ran to the steps and down to her parents.

"Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!" she said happily. "I seed the zoo today! And I had dreams with the pem-gwins and the pooh bears and the birdies and ALL the ameeoos!"

"Wow!" Hermione said, picking her daughter up. "That is quite the dream. I hope all the animals were nice in your dream."

"Yes, yes. And my friends had silly faces like this." She said, puffing her cheeks out.

"What friends?" Hermione asked, thinking she was talking about some animal.

"The ones at the zoo." Kayla explained to her mommy. "When we eated lumch, my friends saw Uncow Har-we and we tooked a pitcher."

"Really?" Hermione asked, looking from her daughter up to Harry.

"Yeah, their grandmother stopped to say how well Kay was behaving then recognized us and they were so excited Gin suggested taking a picture."

"Ah I see." She said before turning back to her daughter. "well, I'm glad you had such a good day. Are you ready to go see our new house?"

Eyes widening in excitement, Kayla quickly nodded her assent.

"Alright, let's go then." And the five of them were off, Hermione apparating with Kayla.

Despite all her family members lounging on the furniture or standing around talking, Kayla was off and running, looking all around her new house. Ginny and Harry were hot on her heels, not having seen the house once it was the exact shade Hermione wanted in every room and obviously not with the furniture and everything put away properly.

Gasping loudly enough to draw attention, Kayla loudly asked; "The green one with the hearts is for me?"

"Yes, love," Ron answered, "the green one with the hearts is your room."

"Wow! You did this for me!" She exclaimed, twirling around the room excitedly. Climbing up into the princess canopy bed, she reached as high as she could and still could not reach the gauzy covering. She looked around and noticed the princess tea set with her favorite animals ready to have tea with her. She kissed them on the heads and told them it wasn't teatime yet, they would have to wait because she was looking at their new house. Bounding out of the room to see what else there was for her enjoyment, Kayla looked happily around the new house, thrilled at the art easel set up in a corner of the kitchen.

Laughing at her enjoyment, Harry and Ginny followed at a slightly more sedate pace, taking the time to notice what the three-year old didn't bother with, like the pictures on the walls. Many of the pictures were of Kayla, with either or both of her parents. Ginny also noticed a picture of herself with Kay when she was smaller and another that she realized was the one taken at breakfast that morning of Kayla sitting on Harry's lap while Ginny was leaning against him.

"It's important that we all remember how important you've been in her life." Hermione said, quietly coming up behind where Ginny was stopped in the hall, just looking at the wall. "I don't want her to forget how much you love her and have loved her since she was a baby."

"Thank you, Hermione." Ginny said, rubbing the tears out of her eyes. This was a day for celebration, not tears.

They all followed the peals of laughter to find Kayla being tickled by her Uncle Fred in the kitchen while Angelina was perusing Hermione's shelf of cookbooks.

"You should find a nice scrapbook and put copies of your favorite recipes in it, so they're always on hand for you or if someone else wants them; that way you won't have to search for it." She told the younger woman.

"That's a great idea, thanks Angie." Hermione said, smiling.

"I'd be more than happy to send over some of mine for you." Molly told her, appearing out of nowhere behind them, as mothers are apt to do.

"Yeah, me too." Angelina, Fleur and Harry chimed in.

"That would be fantastic! Thanks you guys!" Hermione said enthusiastically, already mentally preparing how she was going to catalogue her own personal cookbook.

"Uh oh, she's gone into 'book organizing mode' we won't hear from her the rest of the day." Harry said, wrapping his arms around her to let her know he was joking.

"Ha ha, very funny Harry. Just for that, you're going to get to eat the first thing I cook in this kitchen."

"No, please Hermione, anything but that!" He said, dropping to his knees to plead with her. Neither of them could keep up the act anymore and cracked up laughing.

"Just kidding, love you kid." He said, getting up and giving her a quick hug.

"Yeah yeah, jerk. And I'm older than you, _little brother_; I don't know who you're calling kid." Hermione muttered good-naturedly, shoving him away.

"Yeah, but see, I'm taller than you, so you look like a kid to me." He said, grinning while jumping back from the swinging arm he was sure was coming. He didn't anticipate Ginny slapping him upside the head for her sister-in-law though.

"Geez, Gin that hurt."

"Good. Stop being a jerk." She told him, knowing they were playing, but feeling he was toeing a fine line as he was one of the taller people in the room filled with women insecure about their bodies, height included.

"Sorry." He told the room at large, before 'rescuing' Kayla from Tickle Torture at the hands of Fred and he tossed her up in the air before flying her airplane-style above his head into the other room.

"Oy! That was my toy!" Fred yelled, jumping up and chasing them into the other room. Harry had luckily deposited Kayla into the hands of her father before he was tackled from behind by Fred. The two wrestled on the floor for a few minutes with Hermione looking on somewhat worried about her new house; everyone else in the family was laughing at their antics.

"Calm down, hon." Ron said, depositing his daughter in Ginny's arms, rubbing his hands up and down Hermione's arms in an attempt to bring her stress level down a bit. "They're fine, they can't hurt anything. We've already kid-proofed the house as best as possible. They're just a bunch of oversized kids. Besides," he added, dropping his voice to a whisper only she could hear, "we did a little wrestling of our own when we bought the house, remember?"

"You're right. There are good cushioning charms on the floor and the furniture." She whispered back, grinning wickedly up at her husband, sure there was going to be more 'wrestling' after everyone left and Kayla was in bed that night.

"AHH! I give up!" Fred rasped out from under Harry's armpit where he was currently pinned down.

"Yes!" Harry said, jumping up and pumping his arm in the air.

"Oh honey, nobody needs to smell that." Ginny told him loudly, causing the rest of her family to laugh.

"Yeah, mate!" Ron said, bounding around Hermione to tackle him into Fred.

"Why do I keep getting tackled?" Harry asked, though his voice was muffled from under his best friend. Fred, not thrilled with Harry having rammed into his leg, was trying to tackle both Harry and Ron and called his twin in for backup. Soon, all the men were rolling around on the floor laughing and swearing at each other in turn. The women just rolled their eyes and pretended they weren't in love with the idiots.

"Boys are silly." Ginny wisely told her niece. "Even your daddy and uncles. I think they might be the silliest boys of all."

"Boys are silly." The little girl repeated seriously, surveying at the fray on the floor. "And they say bad words."

"That's true." Ginny said, frowning at the men rolling around on the floor. "Do you want to finish looking at your new house?" She asked, hoping to distract the girl from the words coming from the men's mouths.

"Um, no." the girl said after a moment's thought. "But I'm going to have tea with my pooh bears." She decided, slipping from her aunt's grasp and heading quickly in the direction of her new room with the tea set already set up.

Hermione somehow had acquired a camera in the past minute and charmed it to snap pictures of the boys' wrestling from different angles before following her daughter to get pictures of the first tea party in their new house.

The girls all curled up on the furniture, idly watching the men and laughing with each other.

The men grew tired rather quickly and lay panting in a heap on the floor, unconcerned with how they were tangled up with each other, which just served to fuel the laughter of the women.

Realizing they were being laughed at, the men grumbled as they untangled themselves, fighting about who was tripping who up and the like. Pulling Ginny up from her perch on the end of the couch, Harry hugged her close and asked if she saw how good he was.

"I would hope so, honey, you're an Auror and most of this lot isn't." she replied, laughing at his eagerness for her to see him do well.

"Yeah, but I was still better than them." He grumbled into his hair, unaware that the other men were saying much the same thing and that their beloveds were reassuring them just as much.

"Absolutely." Ginny agreed, mentally rolling her eyes at the male ego, not nearly as oblivious as her boyfriend at the fact that all her brothers also thought they bested each other. "And now you're going to go home and shower and start cooking dinner for us." She told him matter-of-factly.

"Aw, but Gin-"he started protesting, but stopped when he saw her arched eyebrow.

"Okay. I'll see you in an hour." He said before telling the rest of the room good evening and congratulating Ron and Hermione on their new house and apparating him away.

"Wow, you have him whipped." Hermione said, impressed at how quickly her 'little brother' had succumbed to Ginny's will.

"Eh, not really. He just knows it's in his best interest to do what I want him to." Ginny said, shrugging. "He knows he needs a shower and he knows I'm not getting any closer to him until he takes one. Cooking me dinner is cheaper than taking me out and we can touch each other more freely than in a restaurant."

"Honey, she's right. That's called having him whipped." Angelina chimed in before being cut off.

"Wait, MORE than in a restaurant?" Ron asked, again not thrilled with the logistics of his best friend dating his sister.

Blushing slightly, Ginny just kissed him and Hermione on the cheek and congratulated them on the house before reiterating that if they needed anything, they should feel free to floo her, though preferably not that night, thanks. Peeking into Kayla's room before leaving, Ginny smiled at the sight of the little girl having tea with her animals and her grandfather scrunched up at the small table while wearing a tiara. After asking Hermione for a picture, she told everyone good night. Hugging her mum, Ginny whispered not to wait up; she and Harry had a lot to talk about that night.

Apparating back to her room at the Burrow, Ginny looked through her wardrobe, figuring out what she wanted to wear on her date, which is what it was, even if it was just at Harry's house. Idly picking out an outfit, she dressed and accessorized before making up her eyes, but opting against any more makeup than that; she was wondering all the while she got ready if she really had Harry whipped and what that meant for their relationship. Was it bad for him to agree so easily with what she wanted? He had said just the night before that it didn't matter what he wanted as long as she was happy, which she didn't quite agree with. Having given it quite a bit of thought, she worked herself into quite the state of distress before realizing it was time to go to Harry's flat.

Apparating over, she walked into the kitchen where she smelled spaghetti and meatballs being prepared. Kissing Harry on the cheek to let him know she'd arrived, Ginny hopped up onto the counter to watch him finish cooking.

"Hello love," Harry chirped, smiling over at Ginny, though his smile quickly turned to a frown when he saw her pensive expression. "Are you alright? What's the matter?" he asked worriedly, thinking she was depressed about Kayla having moved out that day.

"Do I have you whipped?" she asked, frowning.

Turning the oven burners off, glad the food was done cooking anyway, Harry moved to stand in front of her, nudging his way to stand between her legs that were dangling off the counter.

"Well, yeah." He said, taking her hands in his own. "Is that a problem?"

"I don't want to have you whipped." She told him, still frowning. "I don't want you to just do whatever I want. I want you to do what you want."

"Honey," he said while holding back a chuckle at her seriousness at not wanting him to be hers this way, "I love you. I want you to be happy. When I can make you happy, it makes me happy." To accentuate his point, he kissed her.

"Did that make you happy?" he asked, lips still hovering near her own. When she cracked a smile and nodded at him, he smiled back at her. "Good. That makes me happy. See how that works? Just like when you do something that makes me happy, it makes you happy, right? You didn't wear this sexy little skirt that you knew would make me happy to see you in so you'd get all depressed, did you?" Laughing at him, she agreed that, no, she didn't choose her outfit to make him happy just so she could be depressed at his happiness.

"See. That's how this whole relationship thing works. I make you happy and you make me happy and we're happy together." He told her, happily running his hands up and down her thighs, kissing her briefly before pulling away. "Alright now?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm good." She said smiling at him before swiping a finger in his spaghetti sauce on the stove next to her and dabbing it on his lip before kissing it away. Letting him deepen the kiss, they both savored the taste of the sauce mingled with each other's taste. Wrenching himself away, knowing he could easily get carried away, Harry offered Ginny a hand down and she set the table while he dished up their meal.

Smiling and laughing at their day, dinner passed quickly for Harry and Ginny. They put the food away before charming the dishes to clean themselves and went into the living room.

"It's going to be hard without Kayla." Ginny said, turning serious as she cuddled up to Harry on the couch. Unsure of where exactly she was going with that, Harry opted to stay silent and wait for her to continue. "She's so much a part of me, of who I am, who I've become over the past few years. Who am I without her, Harry?" she asked, voice breaking

Hugging his girlfriend tightly to his chest, he kissed her forehead while his brain whirled around, searching for an answer.

"You're Ginny. You're adventurous yet cautious. You've got a fiery temper and the sweetest hugs. You're the staunchest defender of whatever you believe in and you're persuasive enough to get anyone to agree with you. You're the sexiest woman I've met wrapped up in the innocence of a child. You're full of life and willing to let go of your independence when someone you love needs you. You're family and goodness and everything right in the world even though you were possessed by the loneliest, most evil man to have walked the earth. You're brave and fierce and independent because you had to be to survive, but you're insecure and don't see how amazing you are because he broke part of you that you never got back after that and you look at me like you can't live without me-"

"I couldn't have." She interrupted quietly. "You saved my life."

"You were Ginny. You were innocence and family and love and Ron and horrible poems and blushes and shimmery, coppery hair and everything my best friend's little sister was supposed to be. And I couldn't call myself his best friend or a decent human being if I didn't do everything in my power to try to save you from that monster. I didn't realize how amazing you were in your own right until I saw you lying there and thought to myself how much poorer the world would be without you to grow up in it." He gently wiped away the tears that were traveling down her face before continuing.

"And then you did grow up in it. You defended the younger students, refusing to let their innocence mean they were preyed upon; you wanted them to grow up how you hadn't, without evil touching the core of their beings. You learned how not to need me because I was a stupid prick. You learned how to be carefree again, how to let go and have fun, despite the weight of the world pressing in. You learned how amazing freedom is, and you gave it up without much thought when it seemed like the only course of action. You love with everything in you. And I love everything about you and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you even more."

"That's at least the second time in as many days that you've said something like that." Ginny noted, looking up at him through her teary eyes.

"Yeah, well, it's true." He told her, shrugging somewhat uncomfortably.

"Are you going to propose to me soon?" she asked, accurately guessing what had been on his mind nearly nonstop the last several months.

"Do you want me to?" he asked her seriously, searching for an answer.

Sighing, Ginny thought about her response.

"I don't really know. I love you. I want to be with you."

"But?" he asked, knowing there was an objection somewhere or she wouldn't be so hesitant.

"But… we're young. We haven't really been dating that long. I just got my freedom back and I don't know what I want to do with it." She finished speaking almost apologetically.

It was Harry's turn to sigh.

"I know. That's what I told your dad this morning."Ginny arched her brow at that, filing it away for later, but didn't interrupt Harry's stream of thought by pointing out what he just said. "And I want you to do everything you want to do. I just… I want to do it with you, or at least have you come home to me every night afterwards. I am so in love with you, Ginny, and I have been since I was sixteen. We've known each other most of our lives and we waited so long before admitting how we felt about each other. I don't want to waste any more time I could be spending with you." He told her, realizing he was crying when a tear splashed onto her cheek. "But I also don't want to trap you, making you feel like you have to be with me. I'm yours as long as you'll have me in whatever capacity you want me." He told her, breaking at the thought that she could very well decide she didn't want to date him since he was so incredibly bent on moving their relationship forward as soon as possible.

"I love you, Harry Potter. And I will marry you someday… I'm just not ready yet." She told him, apologizing for not being quite on the same page as he was.

"I can live with that." He said, hugging her close and kissing her fiercely.

As Ginny pulled back from his kiss, she got a wicked grin on her face that scared Harry a bit.

"So what were you and my dad really talking about this morning?"

"Oh." Harry stuttered, this not being at all what he was expecting. "Um, well, he got me out of bed to ask when I was going to make a honest woman out of you." He said honestly, figuring he shouldn't lie and he might as well let her share in his embarrassment, which she obviously was.

Turning scarlet at the thought that her father caught Harry in her bed,_ and without a shirt on_, she remembered, that he thought they were sleeping together, and that he actually asked Harry about it, Ginny definitely shared his embarrassment, not wanting to go home and face him.

"Merlin's balls! What did you say?"

"Well, first I told him I wasn't make a dishonest woman out of you in the first place, though it was his choice to believe that or not, then I basically told him I would marry you someday, but you weren't ready yet and had to explore your independence first." He said nonchalantly.

"Really? You told my dad that?" She asked, kind of impressed at her boyfriend.

"Yeah. Why?" he asked, not seeing what the big deal about it was, just that it wasn't good they were caught together like that, even though nothing had happened.

"Because." She said, smiling wolfishly at him. "That is incredibly sexy." With that, Ginny fell backwards on his couch, pulling Harry on top of her. Quickly recognizing her mood shift, Harry happily kissed his girlfriend, supporting himself with one arm while letting the other roam about her happily exposed leg. Finding it unfair that he got to touch her skin while his was still all covered, Ginny worked the buttons on his shirt, though it was slow going due to distraction. Once it was unbuttoned, Harry pulled back and took it off, throwing it carelessly on the floor before going back to kissing and feeling up his girlfriend. Pushing her skirt up higher, Harry's hands ghosted over Ginny's upper thigh, as though afraid she'd make him stop. Instead of pushing him away though, she arched into his touch, exposing herself to him further while scraping her nails down his bare back. Moaning loudly into his mouth, Ginny tangled a hand into Harry's hair, urging him ever closer.

"Oh Merlin." A shocked voice squeaked out from somewhere above them. Groaning, this time out of frustration, Ginny broke away from Harry and looked up to see Ron with his jaw dropped above them, trying not to notice where Harry's hand was on his sister's body.

"What, Ron?" Ginny asked, annoyed at her brother, while Harry tried to find his vocal chords, thinking that it was ironic he could defeat Voldemort, but he was surely going to die at the hands of his best friend.

"Mum said you weren't home." He squeaked out, "So I figured you were still having dinner over here." He said almost accusingly, as though he didn't believe they'd really eaten.

"And you deemed it necessary to interrupt us because…" Ginny asked, irritated.

"Kayla wants a bedtime story, only Hermione and I can't figure out which one." He said, sheepishly.

"The puppies?" Ginny asked knowing what the answer would be before he nodded his head. "101 Dalmatians. It's in a big book full of other children stories by Disney." She told him, thoroughly annoyed at the spoiled mood, pulling her skirt down and pushing Harry up off of her. "She also has a miniature copy that she carries around in her pink puppy purse."

"Thanks Gin," he said, unsure if he meant about the story or moving so they were at least decent.

"You're welcome." She said, adjusting the blanket she had pulled over her lap. "But Ron, don't interrupt my dates again, unless it's an emergency." She warned.

"Definitely not." He agreed before leaving on the spot.

"GAH!" Ginny yelled into Harry's shoulder. "I'm not a better parent than THAT?"

"That's not the question love. The fact is, he actually IS her parent."

"Yeah, whatever." She muttered. "And he has crappy timing."

"Incredibly." Harry agreed, though paused before amending that. "Actually, it was probably good he showed up when he did." He said, gesturing at his lap. "I'm not sure I'd have stopped with that skirt of yours giving me such easy access right where I wanted it." Uncomfortable though he was to admit it to himself, let alone Ginny, he probably wouldn't have stopped if she'd continued rubbing herself against his erection like she was.

"Humph." Ginny sighed, annoyed that Harry was taking away all her reasons to be frustrated with her brother.

"Unless you wanted me to… not stop." He said tentatively, unsure what her sigh meant she was frustrated at.

"We've already talked about that, Harry." She said, though she understood his need for clarification.

"I know, but I didn't know if you'd changed your mind." He told her, knowing that she knew he would want to know if she had changed her mind on the subject.

"I want to Harry. But potions and charms can fail. And our child is not going to be trashed by the Prophet before he's even born."

"He? We're hypothetically having a boy?" he asked, smiling, glad she was willing to talk about having kids with him at some point in the future.

"Well, considering my family history, it's the safest bet; we probably will have a boy." She told him matter-of-factly, not realizing she switched from the hypothetical to the real future.

"That's true. We probably will have a boy. And another one. And maybe a girl just because you'll be sick of boys running our house." He told her, smiling.

"Please, Harry. Like I'm going to let our house be run by the boys, no matter how many of you there are." She said, scoffing at the notion. "Lily and I will rule over you with an iron fist."

"Lily?" he asked, gasping a bit, startled that she'd thought about naming their future daughter after his mother.

"Well, she'll probably have my hair, and your gorgeous eyes, and there's really no other name that combination could have." Ginny said, trying not to be embarrassed as she revealed how much she'd thought about their future kids when she'd just said she wasn't ready to get married.

"You're absolutely right." Harry said kissing her swiftly. "And her big brother James will always look out for her."

They spent the next half hour daydreaming about the hypothetical kids they might have in the future until Ginny let out a huge yawn.

"I should go to bed." She said, not wanting to move from the couch where she was snugly wrapped up in a blanket.

"Don't go. I want to make you breakfast tomorrow." He said plaintively.

"Kay." Ginny acquiesced, though she still moved to get up. "You gonna sleep in your bed with me or no?"

"I don't think it would be wise." He answered delicately, staying where he was so Ginny could go in and change into some of his pajamas.

Rummaging around in his drawers, Ginny found a pair of boxers and a t-shirt that she could sleep in. Laughing at the fact that he kept the "I'd get sleazy for Weasley" t-shirt the twins gave him the previous Christmas, Ginny quickly donned her pajamas for the night. Still cold, though, she searched for a pair of socks, knowing you're never as cold if your feet are warm enough. Finding a lumpy pair of socks, Ginny grinned. Having grown up with six older brothers, she knew that lumpy socks either meant they were incredibly thick and comfortable or there was something interesting hiding in them. Quickly opening the small bundle, she gasped when she saw the blue felt box that was small enough to hold only one thing. Ginny gingerly opened the box, not believing what she'd find. Sure enough, there was a gorgeous round diamond with pear-shaped side stones on a platinum ring.

"Oh my god." She whispered, in awe at the beauty of the ring, and wondering how long it had been sitting there, waiting to be put to use. Unable to stop herself, Ginny picked the ring up out of the box and slowly fitted it onto her finger. Admiring the way it looked and how the light glinted off of it, she didn't want to take it off. Realizing that that ring represented a life with Harry, a life filled with going to bed in his arms and waking up to the sound of their children's feet, a life of not having to worry if she was pretty enough or smart enough, a life not stressed about whether she was doing the right thing, because being with Harry WAS the right thing, Ginny suddenly wondered why she felt she needed freedom so badly. Harry was freedom. He was love and happiness and really, what more could she want in life?

Climbing into the bed, Ginny hugged a pillow to her chest and set her hand on the duvet, looking at the ring, and how right it looked sitting there on her finger. She fell asleep that way and just slumped over, still hugging the pillow.

Realizing that Ginny wasn't going to be coming back out and he was pretty much exiled from his own room for fear he'd do something stupid, Harry stripped down to his boxers, leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor. Grabbing some extra blankets from the hall closet, he made up his bed on the couch, thinking how grateful he was he had her in his life and that he was willing to wait as long as he needed to marry her, but he hoped it wouldn't take too long.

Waking up to someone floo-ing into his flat, Harry quickly sat up and looked around. Seeing Hermione, he willed his heart to stop racing, and asked what she was doing there.

"I was looking for Ginny. Kayla and I wanted to take her shopping today, but Molly said she never made it home last night and Ron refused to get her from here for me. What are you doing on the couch, by the way?" She asked curiously, surveying her oldest friend's makeshift bed.

"Ginny stayed over last night." He told her, as if it were obvious, since she was there because of that fact.

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione exclaimed. "You guys really aren't sleeping together?"

"No, we're really not." He replied crossly, annoyed that she seemed to have to shout the news that he wasn't getting laid. "She doesn't want our kid or our relationship trashed in the paper, so we're not risking her getting pregnant."

"Oh. Wow. I sometimes forget how much more you have to deal with that the rest of us. There were a few articles when I was pregnant, but nothing major." Hermione said, more subdued.

"That was because nobody could figure out if you got married or pregnant first, since you guys got married right out of school. They just accused you two of being rotten friends to me." He said.

"Oh. Right." Hermione replied, frowning as she remembered. Putting it behind her, she plowed on. "So I take it Ginny's in your room, then?" Without waiting for an answer, Hermione headed that direction.

"Yeah. I'll just get started on breakfast then." He said to the thin air. Pulling his pants back on, he headed into the kitchen and nearly got plowed down by Hermione on her way back out of his room.

"Harry James Potter! Why didn't you tell me you two got engaged last night?"

"What?" he asked, spinning around.

"There is a ring on her finger and you didn't tell me anything about it!" Hermione whisper-yelled at him.

"What do you mean there's a ring on her finger?" He asked frantically, trying to maintain the whisper but finding it exceedingly difficult. "She found it?"

"Wait, you didn't ask her?" Hermione asked, slowing down and processing his anxiety level.

"No. We talked about it, but she said she wasn't ready yet." He told her, pushing past Hermione to go look at his still sleeping… fiancé?

The two stood in the doorway looking at Ginny's sleeping form, ring hand still held out in front of her, clearly showcasing the ring she had found.

"I'll just leave you two alone." Hermione said, realizing that taking Ginny shopping with Kayla paled in comparison to the conversation Harry and Ginny were bound to have that morning.

Not realizing that Hermione had even spoken until the sound of her apparating broke him from his stupor, Harry shut the door gently, and went back to the kitchen, mind whirring as he cooked up sausage links, poached eggs, and toast and brewed some coffee, knowing Ginny liked a cup in the mornings.

"Gin, breakfast is almost ready." He yelled, hoping that would wake her up. He wanted to see if she came out with the ring on or if she took it off and put it back.

A few minutes later, he had his answer as a fully rested, but still groggy Ginny came out still in her pajamas, empty-handed.

"Here you go." He said, handing her a plate before nearly running back to the stove.

Wondering why her boyfriend was acting so skittish, Ginny began eating. "Thank you, love. This is delicious. And it's so much nicer waking up to you than my mum." She said, smiling, hinting at her revelation of the previous night.

Harry just smiled weakly back at her from across the table, wondering what it meant that she was wearing the ring last night but took it off before coming out to see him. Did she decide she really didn't want it?

Deciding that Harry wasn't going to snap out of whatever funk he was in without some prompting, Ginny decided to engage him In conversation.

"After we talked last night, I got to thinking…" she started off.

_Oh Merlin, here it comes,_ Harry thought to himself. "Yeah?" he asked instead, trying to keep his voice neutral.

"Yeah. I don't really know what my problem was, but I realized that I don't want freedom if it means keeping us apart. I love you. I want you. I can't think of what I want in my life before we get married because there's nothing else I want." She told him honestly. "I just want to be with you."

_Oh thank Merlin_, Harry thought, relieved, before another thought occurred to him.

"This isn't just because you found it, is it?"

"Because I found what? Harry, I just said I wanted to marry you." She told him, confused as to why he seemed a bit hostile. This was what he wanted, wasn't it?"

"Because you found the ring. You saw it last night after we talked and now you suddenly want to marry me before anything else?" he asked impatiently, unwilling to let himself believe her change of heart was about him when the circumstances pointed otherwise.

"Well, yes, I found it last night, and it got me thinking some more. I realized I do want to have kids with you relatively soon, and that there's nothing more that I want than to go to bed and wake up next to you every day. I'm not shallow enough to change my mind about something this important just because of an admittedly gorgeous ring!" she said, anger starting to shine through. "And if you think I am, maybe I don't want to marry you after all!" With that, she got up from the table, running back into the bedroom.

Harry could hear the telltale 'pop' of her disapparation before he really even realized what happened. Swearing to himself, he quickly followed her, apparating into the kitchen of the Burrow. Ignoring the curious looks of her family, who had been sitting listening to Hermione recount the morning's events before she went home when Ginny apparated in still wearing Harry's pajamas, he desperately yelled at her to stop.

"Gin, I'm sorry, but what was I supposed to think?" he cried out. "I went to wake you up and you were suddenly wearing it then you took it off before coming out to breakfast and you were suddenly willing to think about it? What should I have been thinking?"

"You should have been thinking that I love you!" she yelled back, throwing at apple at his head. He caught the projectile before even realizing what it was and set it down on the counter without taking his eyes off her. "That's what I kept saying, so you should have thought that's what I meant!"

"I love you too." He said, inching his way toward the irate witch. "And I want it so badly to be true. I want you to be ready to marry me and I want you to be ready to let me in all the way to see who you are in the deepest corners of your heart. You've been pushing me away for so long though." He explained, only a few feet away now, suddenly realizing there were tears in both their eyes. "I didn't know what it meant when you found the ring last night and woke up wearing it. I didn't know what it meant when you had it off again before I was even supposed to have seen you this morning. And then you were suddenly all gung-ho about moving forward. I was confused, Ginny. I didn't mean to be so mean and accusing, I was just trying to figure it all out." He said the last bit taking her into his arms. She was stiff at first but quickly succumbed to the embrace, wrapping her arms around him as well.

"I know. It was a big change from last night even. You had every right to be confused. But I do love you and I want to start our life together." She told him seriously, looking up into his eyes.

"I do too. Ginny," he started, dropping to his knees and looking up at her, "will you marry me?"

"Yes." She whispered happily, drawing him up for a teary kiss before they both disapparated back to Harry's.

Applause rang out around the kitchen in their wake, the family having thoroughly enjoyed the show, with tears marring the faces of the women and Arthur, who realized he was going to have to give away his little girl. He was comforted by the thought that the man who was taking his little girl away was already so close to the family and that he had already saved the world, so the boy might actually be good enough for Ginny.

*you've read, so please review* feedback fuels my soul* If you enjoyed this, read my other stories*

A/N: AHH! Don't you just love happy beginnings? It's the ending of our journey with this incarnation of Harry and Ginny though, sorry. So, a few notes before I really wrap things up here.

The zoo in my hometown really does have a cafeteria that was converted from the old lion cages. It's the coolest thing. I remember as a kid being freaked out at the lion cages since you couldn't see the plexi-glass, just the bars that separated them from attacking small girls who went to the zoo with their evil older sisters… anyway… but it really is insanely cool and that's what I modeled the zoo cafeteria after in this story… what? That's not what you wanted more notes about? Really? Well.

It's amazing what you will find simply by asking friends for "awesome old lady names" and browsing the phone book. Seriously. My best friend's great-grandmother's was Undine Sylvester. Which would have been awesome enough, but I found a Clapsaddle in the phone book, so I OBVIOUSLY had to use that instead.

3 I really really love this story. And I'm beyond thrilled that I got such a fantastic response to the first part. I hope you guys liked this part as well. I tried to do a better job of explaining where each of the characters was coming from/ where they were the first part, but if something wasn't clear, let me know and I'll try to explain better.

There was a BUNCH more smuttiness in this part, which is not actually something I was expecting, though I figure if they're dating and that serious and not sleeping together, they're doing something. What did you think about Ginny's stance on… baby-making activities? With a niece and two nephews that came along unexpectedly, my opinion is: if you're not ready for kids, don't do things that lead to them. As Ginny said, birth control isn't fool-proof. *Gets off soapbox*

I love boys. I might have portrayed them as ridiculous and with weird reactions to things and overprotective… but they are, and I love that about them. They're adorable. Sorry to any men whose egos were just bruised by me calling you adorable; I can't help it, you are. Until you show me otherwise, at any rate.

Ah, yes, I nearly forgot. The ring that was described was found on the Tiffany's website and a picture of it has been saved on my computer for the past three or four years. If someone else would pay my student loans and other bills, I would happily work just for that ring for the next two years. I think I'll change my profile picture to it for a little bit, just so you can get a visual of the ring. =) The ring also came in white gold and maybe yellow, but I'm allergic to gold (I can wear the fake stuff, but put me in real gold and I break out) so I look at platinum rings when I daydream.

I'm working on continuing It All Started With an Owl, but I've stalled out… covering the day-to-day stuff that builds a relationship… it's hard. I know where they're going but getting them there is more work than I'd anticipated. Please bear with me.


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